Russia-Ukraine: Yorkshire firm Magtec extends jobs offer to Ukrainian engineers forced to flee their homes

Bosses at Magtec have welcomed the launch of the Home Office’s sponsorship scheme to match Ukrainians without established family ties in the UK to businesses.

The company said it is ready and willing to support skilled workers who want to come to Yorkshire.

Andrew Gilligan, managing director, said: “We have all been shocked by what we are seeing in Ukraine and feel quite helpless to stop the advance of the Russian military.

“What we can do is assist here in the UK. As a high-growth company, Magtec has a wide variety of job vacancies spanning electrical, mechanical and software disciplines and we would love to consider Ukrainian engineers for these roles.”

Ukraine’s education system is focused on technical and scientific disciplines and produces 130,000 engineering graduates every year, according to Magtec.

The nation’s workforce has one of the highest levels of English proficiency in central and eastern Europe.

Magtec is a UK leader in the design, manufacture and installation of drive systems for electric and hybrid vehicles and is increasing production for customers in the commercial vehicle, rail, defence and logistics sectors.

The privately-owned company currently employs 145 people at its 65,000 sq ft facility in Rotherham and is targeting sales of £30m this year, more than double the turnover of 2021.

Founded by chief technical officer Marcus Jenkins, the company has delivered more than 650 systems globally, which have accumulated more than three million operational hours. Magtec has developed systems for projects ranging from 7.5 tonnes to 27 tonnes.