13 Dec 2017: The Year in Review
2017: globally, it’s been interesting to say the least, hasn’t it, with presidential comings and goings, political and economic uncertainties at home and abroad, oh, and something signed back in March called ‘Article 50’! It’s been an eventful year for us, too, so let’s look back on what has been a particularly successful 12 months for our company and share some of 2017’s highlights with you.
On the business front, we were among 100 top-rated UK SMEs honoured to be named an ‘Export Champion’ in the prestigious CommonwealthFirst programme, giving us access to fast growing Commonwealth markets such as Australia, Canada and India. Over the coming months we will receive training, mentoring, trade missions and business development support to help us secure new business in the 52 countries that make up the Commonwealth.
We were also granted membership of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in recognition of our position as a key supplier of precision engineering components to the global automotive market for the better part of a century. We will be working with the SMMT to help automotive parts manufacturers achieve excellence in their design and design-for-manufacture processes.
Just one year on since we opened the doors and our apprentice training school is going full steam ahead, with more than 30 young local residents applying for the four places on our training programme. Three first year apprentices and one Level 3 apprentice commenced their training in the summer, taking the number of apprentices currently on the programme to eight. We’re delighted with the response and the fact that so many young local people are keen to take up a career in engineering. In fact, we’re already talking about increasing the school’s capacity to meet future demand.
Our community relations, too, went from strength to strength during the year. First up, we helped sponsor local Welshpool resident and Dawson Shanahan employee Mariusz Pilinski to realise his dream of competing at the Arnold Amateur World Strongman Championships in the USA back in March.
Mariusz is the second high-performance local athlete that we have sponsored to date. He joins young shot-put star Adele Nicol, who this year made significant progress in her development to become the Welsh Senior Champion, Under 23 British Champion, British Universities Champion and won a Bronze medal at the European Throws Cup.
Our community relations, too, went from strength to strength during the year. First up, we helped sponsor local Welshpool resident and Dawson Shanahan employee Mariusz Pilinski to realise his dream of competing at the Arnold Amateur World Strongman Championships in the USA back in March. Mariusz is the second high-performance local athlete that we have sponsored to date. He joins young shot-put star Adele Nicol, who last year became the record holder in the Welsh under-23 age group following a throw of over 16 metres.
Towards the end of the summer, our team of ace drivers found themselves at the International Race Circuit in Shropshire for the 2017 Dawson Shanahan Grand Prix. With reputations on the line and the coveted Dawson Shanahan cup up for grabs, we were all set for a highly competitive set of races – and we weren’t disappointed.
Andrew Morris stormed to victory, despite adverse conditions on the track, joined on the podium by Dale Jones and Mark Davies, who both delivered impressive performances. Our congratulations go once more to race winner Andrew and our commiserations to the rest of the field. The countdown to the next Dawson Shanahan Grand Prix has already begun.
As you can see, it’s been a very interesting year here at Dawson Shanahan! We’ll soon be beginning our Christmas break, before resuming business as usual for what looks to be another great 12 months. However, before 2018 gets underway, we’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas and happy New Year from the entire Dawson Shanahan team.