• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Monday May 16 2022
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Princess Anne visits automotive firm Xtrac

Princess Anne visited the Thatcham headquarters of motorsport and automotive transmission technology specialist Xtrac last week.

The royal met recipients of the eponymous Princess Royal Training Award, which is assessed by the City & Guilds Group of which she is president.

She also met with Dr Ann Limb, chair, and Kirstie Donnelly MBE, group chief executive of the City and Guilds of London Institute, also introducing Peter Digby, president, Joe Greenwell CBE, non-executive director, and Adrian Moore, chief executive officer of Xtrac.

During her visit, The Princess Royal took part in a round table discussion on Females in Engineering with apprentice Faye Cooke and graduate engineers Jessica Matthews and Katie Parton in Xtrac’s newly-built computer-aided engineering classroom.

She also met in the Academy’s practical skills workshop with Xtrac’s professional training partners, including Shelly Van Meter, head of department and apprenticeships, and Cliff Newcomb, development coach, Newbury College.

The Princess also met master coachmaker Sarah Sillars OBE and coachmaker John Blauth, from the Worshipful Company of Coachmaker and Harness Makers, who support apprentices with educational bursaries.

During Xtrac’s manufacturing facilities tour, Peter Digby and Adrian Moore explained its operations to The Princess, who met with former apprentice Ryan Bambrick and current apprentice Joe Monger, trainers Luke Barrington and Matt Ford, and former apprentice Jamie Rusbridge.

Xtrac’s high precision bevel-gear cutting, and meticulous grinding operations, were demonstrated by apprentices Wesley Bloom and George Englefield, former apprentice Stephen Gomm, accompanied by machinists Keith Dickinson and Chris Neal, team leaders and former apprentices Martin Carrick and Jason Woodley, trainer Neil Warwick, and apprentice manager, Warren Page.

In the quality department, apprentice Adam Tamcken and inspector Connor Englefield explained how Xtrac achieves full traceability of every component. While the apprentice Jamie Lawson, accompanied by trainers Alex Jennings and Jack Parkins, familiarised Her Royal Highness with Xtrac’s essential heat treatment operation.

Other employees meeting The Princess included former apprentices Matt Booth, Chris Burn, Joshua Crolla, Dan Eggleton, Harrison Gale, Arron Marshall, and Lee Stannard, along with current apprentices Thomas Aram, Adam Bowes, Joshua Gaut, Alfie Gibbons, Joseph Jukes, Chris Marrs, and Louis Wilson.

Xtrac CEO Adrian Moore, who began his career as an undergraduate sponsored by Rolls-Royce, is highly supportive of the company’s training programmes:

“Our training programmes strongly underpin the continual improvement of our capabilities,” he said.

“It receives the highest priority throughout the business, supporting the company demand for a highly trained multi-skilled workforce to ensure our customers have the best products and services.”

“It’s particularly relevant as we are at the forefront of a once-in-a-generation technology change as the motorsport and automotive industry transitions from the internal combustion engine to hybrids and electric vehicles.

“Empowering our employees ensures we have the best people delivering innovative solutions to our customers globally.

“The Queen’s Award for Enterprise similarly recognised Xtrac in 2020 with its Innovation Award for our advanced range of integrated lightweight electric vehicle transmissions.”

Xtrac introduced its apprenticeship scheme in 1993 and has worked with Newbury College since 2003 to deliver its apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing.

It has since been an exemplar of engineering training and learning best practices in a high-growth company.

The investment into its Academy is part of Xtrac’s ongoing business expansion, with additional state-of-art test facilities and increased manufacturing capacity to meet growing global demand.

Pictured: Adrian Moore, Joe Greenwell, Peter Digby, Kirstie Donnelly, Princess Anne, and Dr Ann Limb