Building the reputation for Electech excellence in Lancashire
In today’s guest blog we hear from Chris Mayne, Managing Director of Teleplan Forsberg, who explains the motivation behind and the success of the Electech Cluster in Lancashire.
Why did you establish the Electech Cluster?
We were struggling to recruit into the business and our local talent pool was not aligned to the skills we needed. Simply speaking, Electronics was not being taught at the local colleges, and it was difficult to attract talent to the area. I was also finding that electronics-based businesses were widely underrepresented, especially as technology that underpins modern day advancements in the key areas we see growing today like AI and automation. I felt that there was an opportunity to change that.
But it is difficult to invoke change at this scale as an SME, so I went about talking to other business leaders in the area who had the same challenges. The great thing about this region is the appetite to collaborate, passion to deliver positive change, and take an action orientated approach. Myself, Kate Houlden (Managing Director, Like Technologies), Natasha McCrone (Programme Manager, System Loco) and Phil Leigh (Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager, Uni Cumbria) set about developing the Electech Innovation Cluster in 2020. Our steering board was enhanced with the addition of Mark Jordan (Technical Director, Oxley Group).
So, what is the Electech Cluster?
We set about on a mission: ‘For our region of Morecambe Bay, Lancaster and South Lakeland to be known for its excellence in Electronics technology. Where businesses can thrive because of the local resources and connections’.
Together, we’re building a thriving community to drive growth, innovation, and opportunity in the region’s electronics sector. We have been told our approach is unique as a truly business led cluster who is action orientated and agile. We’ve focused on 4 key pillars:
- Education – Electronics is now taught at local colleges, creating a skilled talent pipeline. Local universities are now a source of motivated graduates in this sector, which helps to reduce recruitment costs and boosts local employment.
- Innovation – Members are working together on new products, fostering diversification, and launching exciting startups.
- Infrastructure – The cluster is collaborating with local policymakers to improve facilities and develop a test and reliability hub to enhance innovation further.
- Representation – We are building a reputation for the sector in the region, attracting talent and enables us to advocate at regional, national and international levels for our shared interests.
And what’s next?
The cluster now consists of 34 members and growing! We’re keen to keep the momentum going and will be adding new focus areas including on Net Zero. On 26 March at The Storey in Lancaster we’ll be holding our Electech Innovation Cluster conference in partnership with Lancaster University. It’s a chance to bring together our partners to celebrate our success so far, but more importantly, to explore what more can be done. Watch this space!