An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

76A CHRONICLE OF THE ENGINEERING COUNCILhad, however, already [prematurely] been termed Industry Affiliates in the 1988 AnnualReport!Firms that had been involved with the earlier Technical Reviews were revisited in 1988 toassess the longer-term benefits of a Technical Review. Assurances were also sought thattechnology was being considered by chief executives and boards when they contemplatednew products, processes or systems or future skills needs. It was hoped that TechnicalReviews could be linked with the DTI’s Enterprise Initiatives.The campaign ‘Registration Matters!’ was mounted during 1988 to encourage more of thosewho were qualified to become Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians to seekthe benefits of registration, particularly with the imminence of the Single Market in 1992.Considering the Register from another angle, the EngC believed that the appearance of anengineer’s name on its Register was a formal indication of competence, and that competentengineers could make a significant contribution in raising the competitiveness of Britishindustry and commerce. Hence, the EngC felt, British industry should be emphasising morevigorously the benefits of registration and should be employing Registered Engineers.With this in mind, when the Fourth Industry Forum was held in November 1988 the themechosen was ‘Registration Matters!’. Over 100 Directors and Senior Managers from IndustrialAffiliates were welcomed at the Forum. A supporting pamphlet and poster were distributedthrough the EngC’s Affiliates. During 1989 ‘Registration Matters!’ leaflets were distributedto relevant members of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union and the EngineeringManagers’ Association in a joint activity between the EngC and these organisations.Feedback from the Affiliates involved in the ‘Registration Matters!’ pilot scheme helped toidentify key issues in encouraging engineers and technicians to join the EngC Register.By 1989 more employers were requiring job applicants to be Registrants and more wereoffering to pay employees’ Institution subscriptions and the EngC registration fees. During1990 this practice spread with some 50% of employers paying both their employees’Institution annual subscriptions and the EngC fees as they encouraged or required theirengineering staffs to be Registrants. Three further Unions pledged their support for the‘Registration Matters!’ campaign in February 1990 – the Electrical ElectronicTelecommunications and Plumbing Union, the Federation of Professional Associations andthe United Kingdom Association of Professional Engineers. These Unions sent copies of theEngC leaflet to their representatives urging their 360,000 members to consider the benefits ofregistration with the EngC.In furthering the links with industry, two regional meetings for Industry Affiliates were heldin early 1989, hosted by Rolls Royce Motor Cars Ltd and Pilkington plc. Twenty IndustryAffiliates met to discuss the EngC’s initiative ‘In Partnership with Industry’, addressingissues surrounding the future supply of engineers and technicians. Many of those attendingvoiced possible solutions to the problems identified. The EngC organised another conferencein October 1989, chaired by Sir Christopher Ball, a RSA/BP Fellow, also exploringchallenges facing the UK in the supply of well-qualified manpower. This was followed, inNovember, by the fifth annual Industry Forum; 100 directors and senior managers from theEngC’s Industry Affiliates heard the EngC presentation ‘Building Your Achievements toDate’. At this Forum, a ‘Matters of National Importance’ proposal was introduced to increasepublic awareness of engineers’ contribution in, and to, society. An ‘In Partnership WithIndustry’ paper was also presented, including six guidelines for action by the Industry© Engineering Council UK 2004