Manufacturing Skills

Debate between Luke Myer and Richard Quigley

Tuesday 20th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Richard Quigley]

The great city of Derby has two great MPs, and I agree entirely with my hon. Friend: the more we can do to help small businesses take on apprentices, the better. Anything that teaches people who would not go down the university route a set of skills and takes them into good paid work is absolutely ideal.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

The challenge in my region is that foreign direct investment comes in, builds big factories and hoovers up the existing skilled workforce from local small and medium-sized enterprises, and there is not a pipeline to replace them. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that regional government works with the further education sector and employers to ensure that there is a proper joined-up skills system so that we do not just bring in new businesses but support our existing SMEs?

[Richard Quigley]

That is a really good point. On the Isle of Wight, we send 25% of our school leavers to university, but 25% end up not in education, employment or training. A lot of effort goes into the structure and support for getting people to university—we can see how to get to university from the moon—but we do not have the same structures around those who do not end up going to university. My hon. Friend makes the good point that we need to encourage home-grown skills.

Hon. Members are used to hearing me complain about the everyday inequalities that islanders face—do not worry, I am not going to mention ferries. However, today is a welcome opportunity to celebrate an area where the island truly punches above its weight: the advanced manufacturing sector. Per capita, the Isle of Wight has one of the highest concentrations of technology and advanced manufacturing businesses in the country. What is particularly exciting is that we are showing no signs of slowing down. New investment, growing businesses and the development of future skills are helping to ensure that the Isle of Wight remains at the forefront of advanced manufacturing for years to come.

Far from being a peripheral economy, the island is helping to shape the industries of the future and is proving that innovation can thrive in every corner of the country. Take shipbuilding as an example. Once seen as a traditional industry, it is now a showcase for advanced manufacturing. It is an industry in which the island excels. At Wight Shipyard, aluminium welding skills are among the best in the world, and Diverse Marine combines craftsmanship with cutting-edge design and innovation to produce vessels that are lighter, more space efficient and use less fuel.

That success is built on the achievements of island businesses that are leading the way in advanced manufacturing. Companies such as Vestas are helping to power the UK’s transition to clean energy through the manufacture of wind turbine blades, while GKN Aerospace and BAE Systems continue the island’s proud tradition of high-value engineering and world-class aerospace expertise. Johnson Electric develops and manufactures precision motion technologies that are integrated into products used by millions of people around the world, and Rheinmetall’s specialist vision systems provide advanced capabilities for defence and security operations across the globe.

Then there is Inflight Peripherals Ltd, a company whose design innovation reaches millions of people every year. There is a good chance that anybody who has ever sat in an aircraft cabin and plugged their headphones or a device into an in-seat power module has experienced a piece of Isle of Wight manufacturing without realising it.

Such businesses demonstrate that the Isle of Wight is not just preserving our industrial heritage, but helping to define the future of advanced manufacturing and innovation in the UK.