Motorsport engineering in East Midlands impresses Institution President

The Institution's President enjoyed visits to two private engineering companies which demonstrate British engineering at its best.

The common theme between President Richard Folkson's visits to Gibson Technology Ltd and Bowler Motorsport is that both companies command the lead in different aspects of international motorsport engineering. 

Gibson (formerly known as Zytek) employs over 60 people in Repton, Derbyshire and is a world leading supplier of Le Mans prototype chassis and high performance race engines – as well as further products, mechanical design and manufacturing services.

Bowler has been the UK’s lead producer of high performance all-terrain vehicles since 1985. Using Land Rover parts, and famous for the Defender Challenge and Dakar Rally, its small team, led by Managing Director Drew Bowler, is growing fast.

The visits, organised by Business Development Manager Lara Mallett, enabled the President and his regional Institution colleagues to enjoy detailed technical insights and understand the creative strength and successes of these two 100% British owned and run motorsport firms.

President Richard Folkson said: “I was really impressed by the quality of engineering displayed by Bowler Motorsport and Gibson Technology. It is clear that the East Midlands is home to many world class engineering companies and that engineering in the region is in good health”.

At Bowler Motorsport, recently elected Chartered Engineer Jon Sprackling MIMechE, Lead Engineer, was presented with his certificate by Richard Folkson. Jon said he felt proud to represent Bowler.

He said: “My colleagues and I showed how we have grown from humble beginnings, building cars in a barn, to where we are today, in a factory ten times the size.

"It was a nice gesture to receive my chartership certificate from the President himself. The visit gave our engineers a chance to talk to him and to other members of the Institution, which will help them in their own steps towards professional registration.”

Graham Marchant CEng MIMechE, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Region Committee Chairman, was part of the Institution's visiting group, which also included Karl Beaton BEng CEng FIMechE, East Midlands Region Chair, and Bob Dewhurst CEng FIMechE, Trustee Board Awards Committee Member and Member of the East Midlands Regional Committee.

Graham said: “Both companies demonstrate how a small, technology and innovation-based local engineering firm can both enthuse engineering within a local workforce and deliver it to a global market with real impact.”

Karl Beaton praised both companies’ commitment to excellence and innovative technology, saying: "Days like this are inspirational and reinforce the reasons why I became an engineer.”



At Gibson Technology Ltd, John Manchester, Operations Director, guided the President and Institution guests around the company. John said he was delighted to show the Institution representatives the company’s engineering capabilities.

He said: “It was an opportunity to demonstrate the great engineering skills we have in the UK and in this area. Hopefully, such visits can be used to help attract young people to take up careers in engineering, which is so important for the future of our industry.”

Bob Dewhurst said: “The visits to Bowler and Gibson demonstrated the skill, imagination, enterprise and sheer enthusiasm of engineers that has made Britain the centre of motorsport in the world.” 

The President attended the East Midlands Annual Dinner following the company visits. There were around 200 attendees; the after-dinner speaker was Ian Robertson, former Scottish rugby international and rugby union commentator.
 
An extremely generous charity sum of £3,800 was raised at the dinner. A total of £44,000 for MacMillan Cancer Support has been raised at the East Midlands Annual Dinner since 2001. 

See the Bowler Wildcat, Bowler EXR and Defender in action.

Visit the Gibson Technology website.