Jeffing Marvellous

Between moving out and in, overseas and all over the place, I found some time in the summer to work on an entry for the Sir William Lyons award – a writing competition run by Jaguar and the Guild of Motoring Writers.

Outside the Royal Automobile Club clubhouse

A few weeks after I’d sent off the articles, I got a call from the Guild’s secretary to say I’d been shortlisted for the prize. Only three others had been selected and we all had to go for interviews at the Royal Automobile Club clubhouse in Pall Mall.

I was grilled by a panel of four industry experts: Tim Pollard (associate editor of Car Magazine online), Paul Horrell (writes for Top Gear), Chris Wright (chairman of the Guild) and a Jaguar representative whose name I was too nervous to remember.

The judges really liked my work, but felt the other candidates had more hands-on experience and were thus more deserving of the prize. I’ve never had any formal training and I have no professional journalistic experience, so just making it to the final interview was a prize in itself.

For the main article, I chose to answer the question “Does the UK need to have a motor industry?” It’s a subject I could write about for far longer than anyone would care to read; my dad’s 30-year career in the motor industry began thanks to an apprenticeship at a local garage, and Citroën UK continue to keep a roof over my family’s head to this day. Things might have been very different if it hadn’t been for the motor industry. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Does the UK need to have a motor industry?

When PSA Peugeot-Citroën slammed and bolted the doors to its Ryton factory in April 2006, the heart and soul of the local working community was torn out and trampled all over. With the collapse of MG Rover at Longbridge still raw in the memory, the West Midlands’ identity as a hub of the UK motor industry lay battered and bruised on the ground as 2,300 ex-employees watched on, reeling from what they saw as an act of bitter betrayal.

The true extent of the damage caused by the closures, however, is almost unfathomable. A thriving car industry is a prolific source of employment, but each time a plant closes or a manufacturer goes bust, the shockwaves reach so far beyond the factory floor that few in the local area are left untouched. Third-party parts suppliers, sandwich delivery boys, even the small company that provides hand towels for the washrooms  – all of them suddenly find their livelihoods under a very real threat.

For future generations of school leavers in particular, this type of chain reaction can have a seismic impact. The demand for mechanical apprenticeships outstrips the supply at the best of times, but the absence of a strong local car industry makes finding hands-on training a near impossible task. Teenagers with dreams of working in the motor industry – or simply those who are not cut out for higher education – suddenly find a dirty great brick wall where the first step of their career path should have been.

Today, as the soaring number of young people NEET (not in employment, education or training) fuels fears of a new “lost generation”, the UK needs its much-maligned motor industry to step out of the shadows, with many believing it could play a key role in the nation’s post-recession recovery. The government’s new scrappage scheme appears to have given the weary industry a much-needed shot in the arm, but this is only a short-term boost, one that ultimately counts for nothing if the talents of budding mechanics, designers and engineers are left to go by the wayside.

If that is to be avoided, vocational education and careers need to shake off their unspoken – but very real – social stigma. In my high school (a state comprehensive) an enormous amount of support and guidance was offered to those aiming for university places, but the alternatives were scarcely hinted at. There was a real sense that pupils more suited to work-based learning were looked down upon, cast aside and left to figure things out for themselves. This, surely, cannot be right.

A recent spell living and working in France gave me a glimpse of how different things can be. Instead of bearing the unflattering tag of an escape route for dropouts and no-hopers, vocational training courses and careers in the motor industry are highly valued. Underground stations, train carriages and local newspapers are all adorned with colorful adverts encouraging teenagers to “earn as they learn”, by studying for work-based qualifications such as the BAC Pro and BTS.

During this time across the Channel, I was struck by the positive attitude held towards apprenticeships and an overall greater willingness to back the potential of young people. Working as an English teacher in Lyon, I regularly gave classes to a group of Bosch employees from a large manufacturing plant in the underprivileged suburb of Venissieux. Before the global financial crisis took hold, the factory was producing tens of thousands of parts per day and was a major supplier to, among others, PSA Peugeot-Citroën. As European car sales began to plummet towards the end of 2008, so did the demand for Bosch’s services and within months, production at the plant was at a virtual standstill.

To fill the void created by three-day working weeks, a number of employees decided to make use of their individual training entitlement (known in France as DIF) by taking English lessons. I learned that the vast majority of them had joined Bosch as teenage apprentices and have been there ever since, going on to train as turners, mechanics, machinists, even computer technicians. Many of them were quite adamant that if Bosch had not given them a chance, they would have struggled to find an opportunity to flourish elsewhere.

In effect, the motor industry opened a door for them that might otherwise have been shut firmly in their faces. The workers I came into contact with seemed well aware of this fact, and showed an infectious sense of pride in their daily work. The idea that parts made by their own hands are fitted to Peugeot and Citroën cars – universally recognised as icons of France’s culture and national identity – is something that clearly gives them a great feeling of satisfaction.

France is often criticised for overprotecting its cultural industries and is far from perfect when it comes to managing its motor industry. Nonetheless, the UK could certainly do worse than take a few leaves out of the French  ‘livre’; after all, encouraging teenagers to train for highly-skilled careers and to work with a sense of esteem and purpose can only be a positive move. The UK government’s new Diploma qualification is an encouraging sign that attitudes at home may be changing, but the system is very much in its infancy and its success in the long-term remains to be seen.

The UK’s automotive industry has been wreathed in gloom for several years now, and it would be very easy to write it off as a lost cause. Yet, all the time cars continue to roll off production lines around the country, we should be doing everything possible to squeeze every last drop of potential out of the industry and ensure that it continues to be fed with bright young talent long into the future. In a time of chronic financial uncertainty, with youth unemployment at record levels and with a nation in search of a renewed sense of pride and identity, the UK’s need for a motor industry has never, ever been greater.