The minister for apprenticeships, Anne Milton, attended a major event in Gloucester to encourage young people to train as engineers.

Yesterday Punchline sent one of its own apprentices, Matt Hall, to report on Festomane 2018 and to capture what an apprenticeship is all about.

Hundreds of Gloucestershire's young people and parents as well as potential employers flocked to the event at The Growth Hub at the University of Gloucestershire's Oxstalls Campus. 

Festomane, the Festival of Manufacturing and Engineering, is a unique event to encourage young people to take up a career in engineering. The aim of the event was to introduce and inspire young people within the county and show them the variety of roles available.

Kathrin Beckerleg, Festomane board member and HR manager at Delphi in Stonehouse, was excited with the events move to a bigger venue.

"Festomane is growing to cover the whole of Gloucestershire in order to bring in a wider range of opportunities for young people and for employers," she said.

Richard Graham, Gloucester MP and the apprenticeship minister, both praised the work local employers within the industry are doing for young people. Mr Graham said, "The festival of manufacturing and engineering is a great way of highlighting the opportunities for young people across the county of Gloucestershire in businesses that are based here on their doorstep".

The organizers thanked all the exhibitors at this year's event. They hope that the young people of Gloucestershire enjoyed the show and hope to see them all next year.

The companies taking part included:

Allcooper

Army Careers

AJW Solutions (UK) Ltd

Berkeley Green UTC

Delphi Diesel Systems

Ecotricity Group Limited

EDT (Engineering Development Trust)

Enviro Technology Services Ltd

GE Aviation Systems

Gloucester College

Heber Limited

Hollingsworth & Vose Company Limited

IET - the Institution of Engineering & Technology

LB Bentley

Lloyds Bank

Omega Engineering Services

Omega Resource Group & Datum RPO

Paul Norman Plastics Limited

Renishaw

Royal Nay/Royal Marines

SartoriusStedim Lab

SB automotive academy

SGS Stroud College

STEMworks Ltd UCAS 

Plus many more