MANUFACTURERS have been urged to take the lead in closing the skills gap.

Business leaders at a major exhibition in Huddersfield yesterday were encouraged to promote apprenticeships as the best way of securing the sector’s future.

The call came at Manufactured Yorkshire ’13 – a one-day conference at the John Smith’s Stadium bringing together manufacturers, suppliers and business support organisations.

More than 300 people attended the event, which included an exhibition with more than 30 manufacturers and suppliers and a series of seminars on subjects ranging from exporting, skills and supply chains to funding for growth.

There was also a series of business clinics on subjects including construction and marketing.

Robert Johnson, managing director of Dewsbury-based Richard Alan Engineering and its group procurement manager Susan Johnson held a series of one-to-one sessions with potential suppliers at a Meet the Buyer event.

Andy Tuscher, regional director for the EEF manufacturers’ group, said a recent EEF report had highlighted the skills gap facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

He told an audience at the seminar on skills: “One in five companies have problems with skills from the shop floor to the top floor and three-quarters see skills as their biggest concern.

“The good news is that we are starting to address the issues. But while some SMEs are very good at taking on apprentices, not enough of them are following the example set by the bigger employers.”

The report highlighted concerns about “poor educational attainment” at schools and the need to increase the number of students taking science and maths subjects.

Earlier, Mike Jones, human resources director for Siemens Energy, said forecasts showed that hundreds of thousands of skilled workers would be needed for key areas such as offshore wind, “green” construction and railway electrification between now and 2020.

But he said: “There is a demographic timebomb ticking. Thirty percent of the workforce involved in the energy sector are aged over 50. In the next 10 years, we are likely to lose 30% of the people we have working in the sector today.”

Mr Jones said the answer lay in strengthening apprenticeships, engaging with schools and working to retain talented employees.

Speaking later, Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman painted a positive picture for the future of manufacturing.

He pointed to major firms bringing manufacturing back to Britain, collaboration between businesses and universities to innovate and a new spirit of entrepreneurship.

Mark Young, sales director at Brighouse-based John Walton Machine Tools, which helped to stage MY’13, said: “I don’t think that manufacturing is celebrated enough in our area.”

The firm, founded in 1974 by Mr Young’s grandfather, supplies firms ranging from local manufacturers to giants such as BAE Systems.

Mr Young said: “We have grown in the last two years from a turnover of £850,000 to £1.6m, so we are doing really well.

“This event is about celebrating manufacturing.”