Leeds Manufacturing Festival Awards honour rising stars of region's business community

The festival aims to raise awareness among young people of the range of careers available in manufacturing, in order to address the serious recruitment and skills challenges faced by many employers.

Scooping the award for Future Manufacturing Leader, sponsored by Leeds City Council, was Kieran Dinsdale, operations supervisor at packaging manufacturer Greyhound Box.

Mr Dinsdale, who joined the company as an apprentice 10 years ago, was praised for his creativity, professionalism and outstanding leadership qualities.

The Apprentice of the Year award, sponsored by engineering apprenticeship benchmarking organisation Next Gen Makers, went to Dan Brodie of electrical control panel designer and manufacturer Bensons Control Panels.

An apprentice panel wirer who has been with the business for just over a year, he is in the second year of his level 3 electrical fitter apprenticeship with the company. He was praised for his “assurance, reliability and positivity”.

Engineering firm LBBC Group nominated a winning employee in the Manufacturing Festival Awards for the third year in a row, with apprentice Michael Ellis named the Rising Star of 2024.

Mr Ellis is in the second year of a computer numerical control (CNC) apprenticeship with LBBC and is described by his employer as “dedicated, resilient and skilful.”

This year’s Employers of the Year, sponsored by E3 Recruitment, was energy equipment and solutions firm Schneider Electric in the large employer category, with FaberExposize UK named as SME Employer of the Year.

The company specialises in large-format printed flags and banners for outdoor sporting events, festivals, major retail and automotive brands.

A special award of Manufacturing Ambassador went to Graham Cooper, formerly site director at Agfa UK’s Leeds plant.

A spokesman said: “The award recognised Graham’s role in initiating the Leeds Manufacturing Festival and his contribution in raising the profile of the sector.”

The trophy was presented by Chris Black, president of Leeds Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the manufacturing employers sponsoring this year’s festival: Greyhound Box, Leeds Welding Company. MPM, Sound Leisure, Saftronics, Bensons Panels and Kirkstall Precision Engineering.

The compere for the event, which attracted an invitation-only audience of around 80 people to Leeds Beckett University’s Rose Bowl building, was Greg Wright, The Yorkshire Post’s deputy business editor.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Wright said: “It was inspiring to see the passion and commitment of manufacturing employers in Leeds. The festival acts as a wonderful showcase for this dynamic, enterprising sector which is providing a major boostfor the regional and national economy.”

Mr Wright added: "All the winners have displayed incredible drive and determination.

"They will surely inspire other young people to carve out careers in manufacturing at a time when the sector needs to attract and retain the talent of the future.”