Investing for the Future - Cornwall's Next Generation

When asked about his drive to inspire young people, Simon commented:
I’m passionate about going out to schools and colleges to meet with students to talk about manufacturing and hopefully, ignite their interest in the creative aspects of engineering. I’ve lived the apprentice’s story and am testament to the fact that a successful, varied and lifelong career can be achieved via this route.
Simon’s talks are made as fun, innovative and interactive as possible. He endeavours to reveal just how creative and expansive the engineering industry can be and also runs an active work experience programme in house, as well as collaborative school projects such as the Greenpower Car Project. Classes regularly come to visit our workshops where we hope to inspire innovative thinking through the exploration of real-life scenarios.

Other important benefits to the company include the development of our talent resources in-house, which enables us to quickly fill shortages with highly skilled, in-house staff. Not only do they close the skills gap, but they also free up experienced staff to up-skill and thereby improve productivity. According to the National Apprenticeship Services, a typical apprentice delivers productivity gains of over £10,000 annually, a figure which we would endorse.

This is a win-win situation for all concerned. As one of the largest employers in Bude, this is something that we are keen to maintain, so we invest heavily in our apprentice’s future, developing their work ethic and increasing their skillset so that they can grow in confidence and knowledge.

Apprentice and former Budehaven pupil Karl Davis, attended this year's Cornwall Skills Show, he said:
It was really great to be asked to be an ambassador for the company at this year’s Skills Show. I’ve got a tremendous amount of loyalty to Bott - they’ve trained me up, developed my career, strengthened my life skills and now, to top it all off, they trust me enough to go out and talk to students about my career. I felt honoured that they had such confidence in me.
Since writing this story, Karl has completed his apprenticeship and is now a qualified engineer. He now starts a new position at Bott, as Team Leader in the Production area for the evening shift. We would like to wish every success in his new role.
If you think that you’d like to follow in Karl’s footsteps and would like to know more about Bott’s current apprenticeship schemes in Bude, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.