40 years ago this week I moved 500miles from home to Coventry to start my career at Austin Rover as a graduate trainee in Product Development at Canley. It was exciting times and I had a passion to try to do my bit for the UK Automotive sector. Not long after starting we were introduced to Warwick University and learned the opportunities through academia and industry working closer. Later I enjoyed various training courses at Arden House and the ATC (Advanced Technology Centre) where in the early 90’s we wrote a paper titled 2020 Vision on trends in automotive (we didn’t see the electric revolution!) Yesterday, I visited both the APC and WMG again to see how things have changed and discuss how to work even closer together to move the dial in UK car design and manufacture. What’s changed you could ask? In some ways not a lot - engineers solving the problems of the day with always insufficient funding. In others we have moved a long way. Today, lots of pieces of the jigsaw are there. In the UK we have innovations and manufacturing solutions we can implement and we have the people who can do it. We do, however, need to break out of that very British habit of being modest and start shouting about our capabilities to get the backing it deserves from the investment community. Governments have been supporting innovation and now look like there are green shoots of thinking towards longer term strategic industrial strategy. To me though, right now, it still looks easier to innovate here in the UK then export the thinking and implement the industrialisation bit somewhere else in the World. We need to right that issue soon!
Last time you and I spent any quality time together we were also at the University of Warwick as I recall Bob - on an excellent TDAP program. I am now just back from a week long Innovate UK visit to Detroit Bob, in the company of 10 Great British Entrepenurs presenting our V2X innovations to the USA. Very enthusiastic reception too. My business partner Jamie is also just back from a week in the Philippines doing much the same. There are indeed green shoots and some are starting to grow fast! Your Watt EV and structural lightweighting innovations would go down well in Detroit my friend- let’s have a catch up chat sometime. Tim
For some reason, manufacturing is never considered value add to the economy. Like you Bob I'm invested in that changing.
But Thatcher nearly killed us and Governments since aren’t interested in the Automotive Industry. We’ve done well to stay in this Industry for 45 years.
Congratulation
Heartily agree Bob and similarly have wonderful memories of Canley and WMG
Congratulations Bob 👏👏
Herzlichen Glueckwunsch Bob. I loved our time at Healey together, not so much the TFL, but that's part of the journey.
Many congratulations Bob!
Senior Project Delivery Lead at APC UK
2moGreat sharing war stories from the good old days with you yesterday Bob. Looking forward to working with you in the coming months. Let's get both the thinking and the doing carried out here in the UK