IMechE president-elect visits CDE Global
Institution of Mechanical Engineers accreditation helping company to attract high-calibre engineers
RICHARD Folkson, president-elect of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), recently visited CDE Global’s headquarters in Northern Ireland to mark the launch of the company’s latest graduate recruitment drive.
Mr Folkson was part of a delegation from the Institution that included Farah Baksh, business development manager (NI), and David Burns, vice-chairman and education officer (NI). During the visit they met with members of the senior management team at CDE Global as well as several engineers currently enrolled on the monitored professional development scheme (MPDS) scheme and working towards Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and Chartered Engineer (CEng) accreditation.
CDE have held IMechE accreditation since 2009 and, according to Brian McCullough, head of talent & organizational development at CDE Global and a Fellow of the Institution, this has been a very important part of ensuring that the company is able to attract and retain the best new engineering talent available.
‘The growth we have enjoyed in recent years has required that we continue to grow our engineering team across technical, project design and product development,’ he explained. ‘The accreditation from the IMechE for our development process ensures that we are able to attract the high-performance people that we need as we continue to expand our global coverage and our product range.’
During the visit, Mr Folkson also met Tony Convery, chairman and founder of CDE Global and a Fellow of the Institution. Speaking about the visit, Mr Convery said: ‘Recognition of our professional development systems by the IMechE is evidence of our commitment to our people and our customers.
‘It is only by continually investing in our people and helping them to be the very best that they can be, that we are able to deliver processing systems of unrivalled efficiency for our customers. This approach is central to our vision to become the number one washing equipment company in every country in the world.’
CDE have created more than 50 high-value manufacturing jobs in Northern Ireland in the last two years and over the next 12 months the company expects to create a further 20 new jobs. While the majority of these will be based in Northern Ireland, the company is also recruiting internationally as it builds regional teams in target export markets.
‘A key focus for us in the years ahead will be to develop our business in markets across Europe as well as in Australia, Africa, North America and Latin America,’ said Brian McCullough. ‘The international recognition of the IMechE is definitely an advantage in our recruitment efforts. The Institution commands a huge amount of respect and our association with it helps us to get noticed when we’re looking for new people.’
Commenting on his visit to CDE, Richard Folkson (pictured second from right) said: ‘It is very encouraging for UK plc to see that dynamic companies like CDE are enjoying export success by manufacturing in the UK. It is proof that significant value can be added to the UK economy through supporting the growth of indigenous manufacturing companies with a focus on high-value engineering.’
CDE’s latest graduate recruitment drive has seen the company attend a number of events at Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster in recent weeks, as well as a number of international universities and graduate recruitment programmes. Information on all the new positions currently open for applications are available on the CDE Global website.
