A West Midlands supplier is on course for nearly £1 million of business across 15 Birmingham schools. HME Technology, based at Saxon Park in Bromsgrove, is a leading manufacturer and installer of design and technology and science equipment.
The secondary schools are Park View Business & Enterprise School; specialist arts complex Birmingham Ormiston Academy; Broadway School, with its campus in Perry Barr; Holte, Mayfield & Lozells School; the International School and Community College; Shenley Academy; Heartlands Academy; George Dixon International School and Sixth Form Centre; Moseley School; Four Dwellings High School; and Saltley School and Specialist Science College.
The 11 schools represent around £480,000 worth of work to HME Technology, a sub contractor to Lend Lease Project Management & Construction on each. In addition, four other deals are in the pipeline with an expected value of £350,000. All are on the back of new or refurbished school buildings.
Julian Davis, managing director, praised the schools for continuing to embrace design and technology. He said: “These are all quality packages which enable children to learn technology and manufacturing skills which ultimately are vital for the infrastructure of UK plc.
“This is the starting point for investing in the future of engineering, making the country more self-sufficient in engineers, and reducing the need to import labour from abroad.
“Many jobs, whether they are car making, vending machines or power stations, depend on people with dexterity. These skills start in school whether it be working with a hammer, a saw or even a screwdriver. This is part of the learning curve.
“Some people seem to think that design and technology is only about sitting in a craft shop making rocking chairs. But it is so much more than that.
“It challenges those pupils with high intelligence – for example, through the practical application of maths – and also opens up opportunities for the maybe less academic students whose talents can all too easily be underestimated. It feeds architects, designers, inventors while also educating those fixing up your house and repairing your car.
“Design technology runs across the spectrum of abilities and I applaud those schools who understand why it matters.”