Explore: Manufacturing

Production Team Leader
Lola Cars

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Peter H

00.00.02 My name is Peter H and I’m the Production Team Leader for Lola Cars Limited. So that involves everything from scheduling work, allocating work, training appraisals. So I’ve got ultimate responsibility for everything within that department. I think the best part about my job is being involved in the racing industry. It’s obviously perceived as quite glamorous although it’s not quite as glamorous behind the scenes. But there’s not many people that can say they play a part of that and seeing the cars on the track and being successful it’s just great and it gives you a great buzz when you’re at the track seeing the cars going round knowing that me and my department produced many of the parts that are on the car.

00.00.47 When I was 15, I got the opportunity to come on work experience to Lola Composites and that was really the first contact I had with the company and that really ignited my passion to want to come and work here. Obviously being 15 years old when some of my mates were going off to supermarkets and banks and stuff for their work experience, saying I was going to a racing car constructor was exciting and was the envy of the school. And I had a fantastic time here. It was around the time Nigel Mansell was driving one our Indy cars in America so the company was getting lots of publicity and so it was quite well known at the time.

00.01.21 It was just fantastic walking round the factory and seeing parts of racing cars and probably from that day on it was always my dream really to come and work here. In September 1998, Lola advertised for a job in the department which I had done work experience in. So that was obviously a great opportunity for me to try and get in. So I applied and I got an interview and fortunately got the job. So that was 10 years ago.

00.01.50 My family had a massive impact on my career. My mum was always very supportive and encouraged me and always gave me the confidence to do whatever I wanted. But the biggest person that had an impact was my brother. My brother also worked for this company so he was the reason I came here on work experience. So my brother in that respect rather than just being a brother at home and being supportive, he’s also here being my boss and been teaching me and mentoring me to what I am today. So I owe a huge amount to my brother and my knowledge and my job I’ve got now, is really all down to Lola and to my brother Ian.

00.02.30 I would say the thing that’s had the biggest impact on my life so far is moving out and buying a property. That really helps to focus the mind in terms of earning a living and having a career. When you’re living at home with your mum and dad, your money is great for going out and everything else but you haven’t got too many responsibilities. You haven’t got too many bills to pay. Obviously when I moved out and bought my own house, I had a mortgage, suddenly then you realise the importance of work the importance of a good job and the importance of job security.

03.03.01 So certainly my attitude to work and attitude to life changed when I moved out and suddenly had mortgages and bills and everything else to pay. Obviously when you’re in your early teens, you start to think about what you’d like to do as a job as you get older and as I said, I was really fortunate to be offered the opportunity to come here on work experience and even more fortunate to be offered the opportunity to work here.

00.03.28 Because if I hadn’t had that opportunity, I’m not sure what on earth I’d be doing now or where I would be. But I do feel very, very lucky to be doing the job I’m doing and enjoying it so much. If I could choose my dream job I think it would probably have to be a racing car driver. Obviously working in this industry and watching the cars at the track, it makes you very passionate about it and I can’t imagine a better job in the world than getting paid to drive one of these cars around a track.

00.03.57 End

Peter H is Production Team Leader for Lola Cars. He says “you a great buzz at the track seeing the cars knowing that me and my department produced many of the parts.” He did his work experience with Lola – where his brother worked. He is grateful for the mentoring and support of his brother in his career.

More information about Engineering technicians

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£39,520
average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

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35
average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

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87%  male 
13%  female 

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description
? Engineering technicians perform a variety of technical support functions to assist engineers with the design, development, operation, installation and maintenance of engineering systems and constructions.
Qualifications
Entrants to training usually posses GCSEs/S grades. Vocational training consists either of full-time study for a BTEC/SQA award followed by two years on-the-job training, or an apprenticeship leading to an NVQ/SVQ at Level 3 or 4. An NVQ/SVQ in Aircraft Engineering Maintenance at Level 3 plus further professional qualifications are required to become a licensed aircraft engineer.
Tasks
  • Plans and prepares work and test schedules based on specifications and drawings;
  • Sets up equipment, undertakes tests, takes readings, performs calculations and records and interprets data;
  • Prepares estimates of materials, equipment and labour required for engineering projects;
  • Diagnoses and detects faults and implements procedures to maintain efficient operation of systems and equipment;
  • Inspects completed aircraft maintenance work to certify that it meets standards and the aircraft is ready for operation;
  • Visits and advises clients on the use and servicing of mechanical and chemical engineering products and services.
Employment by region
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Top 10 industries for this job
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Head offices, etc 12939
Specialised construction 10208
Public admin. & defence 6662
Machinery, etc 5230
Metal products 5050
Other trans. equipment 4822
Architectural & related 4333
Warehousing, etc 3784
Repair & installation 3693
Wholesale trade 3341
Employment status
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