Richard Bridgman's bid to be best in Britain!

Congratulations to Chairman Richard Bridgman and Norfolk Network Ambassador, who has been recognised as among the best in British engineering and advanced manufacturing after being short-listed in the inaugural Semta Skills awards. Richard is a finalist in the Skills Champion of the Year category. The winners will be revealed at a gala awards dinner in London’s Park Plaza, Riverbank hosted by TV presenter Michael Underwood on February 12, with a keynote speech from Business Secretary the Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable. Sarah Sillars, OBE, CEO of Semta, said: “Britain’s engineers are still the best in the World – and we will be putting them on the World stage to take a bow. Semta is working tirelessly to ensure that Great British businesses have enough great British engineers – and we are making significant inroads to filling the skills gap." “The Semta Skills Awards will shine the spotlight on those scaling great heights in modern Britain – with the aim of inspiring the generation to do so in the future. I wish all the finalists the very best of luck.” We employ 90 people, including 16 apprentices and a graduate. Richard chair’s Semta’s regional council and is actively promoting apprenticeships in general, as well as campaigning to get the 16-18 programme reinstated. The Skills Champion of the Year Award will be awarded to the person who has made a significant contribution to support skills development within their business, either through supporting individuals or developing and delivering on products. Judges, led by category sponsors BAE Systems, will also look for evidence of how as a result of the finalist’s support and interventions, people have been able to achieve and deliver over and above expectation. A total of 241 nominations were received for all the categories with three finalists being shortlisted for the Skills Champion of The Year award: Apprentice of The Year sponsored by Marshall Higher Apprentice of The Year sponsored by Rolls-Royce Graduate of The Year sponsored by Atkins Skills Champion of The Year sponsored by BAE Systems Skills Innovation of The Year sponsored by Siemens Training Partner of The Year sponsored by EAL SME Investment in Skills sponsored by Pera Training The awards will be judged by an expert industry led judging panel who will also select an overall winner of the Best of British Engineering Award from the winners of the categories above. The awards also mark the inauguration of Semta’s Hall of Fame where suggestions put forward by the engineering community of contemporary engineers will be inducted alongside some of the most famous figures from Britain’s history. Read more about the Semta Skills Awards here We wish Richard all the success in the Skills Champion of the year category!