‘CEO Clive Higgins champions apprenticeships and returners programme’

Yeovil has been the Home of British Helicopters for Leonardo for more than eight decades. Somerset and indeed Yeovil are at the heart of world leading innovation within British aerospace.

As the company looks to continue its legacy and build further on its heritage in the heart of the South West, they are looking to make it the best environment for its employees and give the best opportunities for young people to thrive.

Speaking to Somerset’s Alive!, Chair and CEO ad interim at Leonardo UK, Clive Higgins, has detailed why working with the Somerset-based company is a great place for apprenticeships and for those wanting to become the next generation of aerospace engineers.

Clive said: “We are developing some of the best technology on the planet at Leonardo. The company offers so many exciting opportunities across helicopters, electronics, cyber & security domains, and more.

“Across the UK, Leonardo is working to recruit an additional 300 early career trainees this year. We have an award-winning graduate training programme, which is designed to support those first steps after leaving university and help career development.”

Clive started at Leonardo as an apprentice when he was a teenager and over the past couple of decades or more has worked his way up to being CEO of the company. He believes that the scheme he entered the company on has blossomed and is a great entry point for others now.

He said: “There’s also our highly-regarded apprenticeship programmes, which offer intensive training lasting two to four years; this enables apprentices to gain a substantial depth of skills in their specialist area.

“I think it’s also important to draw attention to our STEM Returners programme this enables candidates to restart their career following a break. Here at Leonardo, we recognise the skills and talent that these candidates offer and in return we provide exciting roles coupled with excellent support on some of our cutting-edge programmes.”

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Leonardo has just celebrated being the Home of British Helicopters and is also known for its onshore production of advanced electronics for the Royal Air Force’s Typhoon fleet.

The company also builds electronic warfare systems in Luton, radars at their Edinburgh site, cyber & security technologies in Bristol and are investing around £100 million this year in the UK in its ongoing enabler’s strategy, which includes the Future Factory transformation project.

Clive continued to describe the progress of Leonardo, telling Somerset’s Alive!: “Last year, we rolled out digital electronics factories across the country, with a ‘common data environment’ putting big data at the fingertips of engineers. 

“The Leonardo digital backbone, employees, partners and customers can now securely access relevant data and applications anytime, anywhere.”

He added: “One such event is Flying Start, which is a STEM competition for local schools in the South West of England. The aim is for teams composed of four students to design, build and test a model glider that they will present at the regional Fly-Off, where each team will have the chance to fly their glider against schools from the same region and our trainees work closely with industry partners on the running of this event.

“It’s an incredible event that gets young people thinking about aerodynamics but most of all they have fun.”

Leonardo and Yeovil College have been working in partnership for nearly 60 years to improve the educational opportunities of young people.

The two organisations have proved to be a natural fit, with Leonardo needing a pipeline of highly skilled early careers joiners to maintain the competitive edge of its Helicopters business, while Yeovil College looks to support extraordinary futures for its students.

Speaking about this partnership, Clive told Somerset’s Alive!: “Thousands of Leonardo trainees have been educated at Yeovil College and many of these have stayed with the company for significant parts of their careers, in some cases achieving senior leadership positions.

“In the 2021-22 academic year, 50% of engineering apprentices at Yeovil College across all years were Leonardo employees.”