Car giant Honda has launched Made in Britain, a campaign to find Britain’s most talented ‘makers’ to promote the skills of its car building engineers in Swindon.
Made in Britain aims to unearth the country’s highly-skilled crafters, builders, innovators and techno-gurus through a new Facebook campaign, which will offer outstanding creators development awards worth up to £1,000.
More than 80 per cent of the Honda cars sold in the UK are built by 3,000-plus engineers at its Swindon plant. The factory produces around 600 cars a day for British drivers but also for export to 63 countries worldwide.
Honda isn’t the only firm making incredible things on our shores. Britain is buzzing with doers, makers, builders, bakers – creators of all kinds. And Made in Britain encourages them to share their skills by uploading details and images of their work to a dedicated Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/hondamadeinbritain
Every three months Honda will award a development grant to cultivate the talents of the most skilled makers. This could be used to fund a course of classes to improve skills, materials and equipment, or a new website to promote their wares. Ultimately, Honda wants the prize to help these crafters and producers to realise their dreams – whether that’s turning an idea into a hobby or even a hobby into a job! This grant will also be supplemented with additional prizes such as weekend breaks and mentoring from industry peers.
The first stage of the competition, celebrating British style, will be judged by some of the UK’s foremost experts on all things aesthetic, including Adrian Clark, editor of Shortlist Mode Magazine, Alexandra Fullerton, fashion director of Stylist Magazine, and Agents of Change, a team of culturally-diverse, mixed media and art zealots who have been denitrified by Honda as influential cultural engineers of modern society.
Throughout the year, there will be three categories for potential entrants to submit their efforts, including:
• February-June: Style – Anything from funky T-shirts and designer tea-cosies to creative sculptures, funky furniture and even home-made kit-cars.
• June-September: Green – We are after products that have been created with consideration for the environment. They could be something that helps us to reduce our existing consumption or an every-day item that has been redesigned using environmentally-friendly materials
• September-December: Futurology – Whether it’s the toaster of the future, an innovative new lawn-mower, a concept bicycle or even futuristic fashion, this is the chance for the British public to give us an insight into the future.
Honda (UK) communications manager Steve Kirk said: “Britain is crammed with people making brilliant things and we should be shouting that from the rooftops. We employ more than 3,000 incredibly-skilled engineers in Swindon and every year they build 140,000 of the most innovative and reliable cars on the road. This campaign is about celebrating their expertise and the making talents of the nation.”
Honda’s total investment in Swindon since it set up its Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM) business in the town in 1985 is £1.44bn. Today the car plant assembles the Civic 3 and 5-door, CR-V and Jazz models. The 370-acre site also includes an engine plant.
