Enterpreneurial Spirit

For many people manufacturing conjures up images of huge factories and long production lines churning out goods on an industrial scale. In reality, manufacturing isn’t necessarily like that at all – and many successful manufacturing businesses start at home.

For Jan Stringer, it started out as a hobby while she raised her children at home in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire. Twenty-three years later, designing and making educational toys and games is a successful full-time business.

Dickory Dock Designs is still based in Jan’s home town but over the decades it has outgrown the family home and she now runs the operation from workshops in Bridge Mills. All the products are designed and manufactured there by Jan and her team of three staff, and if you prefer the personal shopping experience to online, you can also pay a visit to the shop there.

Jan, 56, is not afraid to say it has been a tough learning curve. Not only in terms of establishing and maintaining a business, but also entering what is traditionally seen as a man’s world. She is now giving her full support to a new pioneering qualification for 14-19 year-olds, the Diploma in Manufacturing and Product Design, which aims to open young people’s eyes, both boys and girls, to the diverse opportunities within manufacturing and give them the necessary skills and knowledge she had to learn the hard way.
“I have had to learn everything I know as I have gone along and it’s not been easy,” said Jan, a former secondary school teacher and technical college lecturer. “This new Diploma will teach the usual school subjects such as English, maths and science but in the context of learning about the manufacturing industry in a practical way. It will give students a broader skills base and hopefully they will come out of education better prepared for the world of work in general, not only in manufacturing. Getting first-hand experience of what working for a manufacturing business is like will equip them with broader life skills in all sorts of areas like customer service, business management, teamwork and so on.”

The Diploma in Manufacturing and Product Design has been developed in close consultation with leading manufacturing companies to give young people a realistic, practical understanding of industry. It is taught through consortia, or partnerships, of schools, colleges and employers, allowing students to divide their time between the school classroom, college and the workplace. Companies can assist by hosting site visits, giving talks and lectures and setting topics for projects, as well as keeping teachers and tutors up to speed with industry developments, and offering work experience placements. It will be available to all school pupils in England by 2013 at three levels – foundation, higher and advanced. It offers a variety of progression routes to participating students into further study and training, including Apprenticeships, GCSEs and A-Levels, vocational qualifications and university degrees.

All students taking the Diploma will study business and management, materials science and product design, and production systems as core topics or ‘principal learning’. Additional and specialist learning options will allow students to choose from a range of vocational manufacturing qualifications, GCSEs and A-Levels to supplement their principal learning and focus on particular areas of interest.

Jan said: “People have an image of what manufacturing is and often that is very stereotyped. The truth is, everything around us, everything we use as we go about our lives, has been designed and manufactured by somebody so the scope for careers in the industry is vast, whether it’s making toys and games, a sports car or the latest mobile phone. I get a lot satisfaction from what I do and I am sure there are many young people who would love to work in manufacturing and product design but don’t know how to progress their ambitions. With employers, schools, colleges and students working together, this Diploma will ensure manufacturing in the future has talented individuals with the skills and knowledge the industry needs.”