Overview
Founded in 2013, Iconic Engineering Solutions is a small firm of six employees based in Grantham, Lincolnshire. The firm designs and manufactures components for the motorsports industry, including parts used in the suspension, steering and braking systems of race cars. They also have their own product line of motorcycle accessories which they design, manufacture and sell globally.
Hosting a T Level student is more impactful than a job interview; you can really test the talent to find a good match for your business
Case study details
Location: East midlands
Sector / subsector: Automotive
Number of employees: 6
From apprenticeships to T levels
Jamie Clare is Director and Engineer at Iconic and currently hosting two T Level students. He says: “When Iconic was growing as a business, I realised how bad the pipeline of engineering talent was - there just weren’t enough skilled people coming through. Apprenticeships were created to help with this, but the drop-out rates can sometimes mean they are a risky investment.”
“When I heard about T Levels, I thought they sounded like a good solution – the student gets the technical knowledge from the classroom combined with a decent stint in a business.”
Jamie believes it’s important to give engineering and manufacturing students hands-on experience and to show how the business operates from the inside. “Engineering and Manufacturing aren’t topics you can learn about in the classroom alone, you need practical application too”, he says.
“For a small business like ours, the recruitment risk is magnified; T Levels help mitigate this. For me, it’s like a safety net which allows me to see if the student is suited to the role and the business before I employ them fully.”
Jamie Clare, Director and Engineer at Iconic
Hitting the ground running
“For a small business like ours, the recruitment risk is magnified; T Levels help mitigate this. For me, it’s like a safety net which allows me to see if the student is suited to the role and the business before we employ them fully.”
Jamie has found T Level students to be self-motivated and enthusiastic. Because the student has the technical knowledge of the sector from their studies, they can almost hit the ground running, unlike work experience students.
Jamie says, “I’d encourage engineering businesses of all sizes to give T Levels a go - you’ll reap the rewards quickly.”