1. You’ll be in great company!

Almost 14% of everyone employed in Plymouth works in manufacturing. That’s 1 in every 8 people – more than any other large City in the whole of southern England.

2. We make exciting products.

Plymouth manufacturers are diverse and often ‘niche’, some are global leaders in their field. We make everything from cutting-edge Micro LED displays to luxury motor yachts, high-precision ball bearings to hydraulic equipment and gyroscopes for autonomous vessels and much much more!

3. We are award-winning.

Several of Plymouth’s manufacturers are international and national award winners.

Some companies won awards for their success in exporting overseas, others for innovation and some for their environmental products and some for exceptional businesses practice.

Here is Karen Friendship, Managing Director of Alderman Tooling, accepting the company’s award for Lloyds Bank National Business Awards – Employer of the Year.

4. We are global players.

Half of Plymouth manufacturers export more than half of their output overseas. Some as much as 90% or more.

Two-thirds of Plymouth’s largest manufacturers are overseas owned – either from North America; the Far East or Europe.

Some of these firms are amongst the largest and most successful in the world. For instance, between them, just Collins Aerospace and Schneider Electric alone – who both have sites in Southway – employ over 360,000 people globally. That is more than one and half times Plymouth’s total population.

5. You can go to the top.

Manufacturing apprenticeships provide great career opportunities. Several of our local firms are led today by people who started out as apprentices.

Apprenticeships can lead to further study and qualifications. Some apprentices achieve degree and masters level qualifications if that is what they choose to pursue – a few go further and complete doctorates.

Qualified manufacturing apprentices take up jobs in a huge variety of roles which, in turn, opens up a range of career options that are numerous , just a few examples are; Production Engineer, Robot Technician, Maintenance Engineer, CAD Operator, Application Engineer, Project Manager

Manufacturers also need business apprentices too – these can lead you to a huge variety of roles across departments such as Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Purchasing and I.T.

6. And we need you!

Manufacturing is vital to Plymouth – it accounts for nearly 16% of our local economy. That’s a far greater proportion than the corresponding national figure which is around 10%. This means that recruiting young talent into this important part of the city’s economy is vital – we need you to come and work in manufacturing!

How Interesting!

Some more facts you may not know….

We are home to famous brands including several from the food and confections manufacturing sector: Mars Wrigley; The Cornwall Bakery (formerly Ginsters) and Burts Snacks.

Some of our manufacturers have to be very precise in their measurements. When making their LED components, Plessey add layers of material that can be as little as 1.5 to 2.5 nanometres thick. Bearing in mind that a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometres thick that’s not a lot!

When you think ‘manufacturing’, DON”T think ‘unclean, grubby environments’. In fact it’s quite the opposite! Several of our firms, including, for example, Algram (a subsidiary of the Japanese company Olympus) have cleanrooms – purpose designed facilities, with a dust free, temperature controlled environment where the air inside is constantly recirculated through high-efficiency filters to remove internally generated contaminants.

If you want to learn more about the exciting world of manufacturing and how manufacturers in Plymouth and around the UK are making a huge difference to our every day lives – check out this fantastic website Made Here Now. One of our Plymouth manufacturers – Plessey – is a featured company!

Change your life today!

Hopefully we’ve caught your interest! If you want to join this amazing group of people working in manufacturing – there are different routes you can take;

Want to earn while you learn?

If you want to earn while you learn, you could consider an apprenticeship. Find out which local companies are currently recruiting or will be recruiting for apprentices later in the year here.

To understand how apprenticeships work, check out these websites:

Want to continue studying?

Or if you would like to continue full-time study – you may wish to go to university to gain a degree. Find out about how degrees in engineering and design work – check out these helpful resources:

Want to know more about a career in engineering and manufacturing?

These websites invite you to meet a range of engineers through a fantastic set of films;

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