The purpose of National Careers Week (NCW) is to celebrate and share career guidance. For Autotech Group, National Careers Week is also an opportunity for us to share our passion for the automotive industry to inspire the next generation of talent and close the sector’s skills gap.
Last week our CEO, Gavin White, went full circle by visiting current students at his former school, Sharnbrook Upper, to talk about business, entrepreneurialism, and the careers which exist within the motor industry.
Gavin founded Autotech Group back in 2010 with fellow Sharnbrook Upper alumni, Andrew Sly and Stephen Hughes after spotting a gap in the market for an agency solely focused on temporary recruitment within the automotive industry.
Fast forward 13 years and Autotech Group is an award-winning company, with over 40 employees at its Milton Keynes headquarters and the UK’s largest network of temporary vehicle technicians and MOT testers. New divisions have been created over the years – Autotech Training and Autotech Academy alongside the company’s founding recruitment division – in a direct bid to meet the automotive industry’s challenges relating to a lack of skills and resources.
A lifelong enthusiast of anything with a combustion engine, Gavin joined the automotive industry as soon as he left school and worked as a Service Manager for Suzuki before starting Autotech Group.
During his presentation to sixth-formers, Gavin discussed entrepreneurialism and the importance of self-belief when setting up in business. He also highlighted the importance of continually pushing boundaries to make a difference and inspire change.
A prominent automotive industry figurehead, Gavin is renowned for spearheading change. Whether that’s through joining the IMI’s TechSafe™ Sector Advisory Group to help drive forward the Electrified Vehicle Professional Standard or working alongside the NTDA to create a tyre apprenticeship.
A passionate advocate of creating career opportunities for young people, Autotech Group has set up several initiatives to support the transition of a new generation of talent into the automotive industry, including Autotech Academy which creates paid internships for newly qualified Level 3 students.
This desire to promote the automotive industry to the people who will sustain it well into the future underpinned Gavin’s recent visit to his former school: “While I had a passion for cars, I was unsure of the career path I wanted to take at school, following my instinct and not being afraid to take risks and grabbing the opportunities as they come along has got me to where I am today – plus a lot of hard work!"
The automotive industry is a great place to work, and the future is exciting, during National Careers Week and every other day we need to be shouting about the varied and interesting motor careers to attract a pipeline of new talent.”