Gooch & Housego : Big Bang South West – reaching out to the engineers and technicians of tomorrow!

Ilminster, UK, 3 July

Staff from our Torquay facility joined with other businesses across the South West of the part of the UK in the 2019 Big Bang South West last week at Westpoint Arena, Exeter. Along with other regional organizations, G&H took a stand and engaged with young people attending the science and technology event.

The Big Bang is a UK national program which celebrates science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers. Several events throughout the year are held across the country to inspire young people and showcase regional STEM employers.

Big Bang South West welcomed just under 6000 visitors through the doors: 84 secondary schools, 39 primary schools. The Arena played host to an impressive array of interactive activities and demos all under one roof also including a large stage featuring live science spectacles. Businesses from all across the South West region of the UK participated including some larger recruiters such as The British Army, Royal Air Force and LEGO.

We're always actively looking to welcome young individuals from different technical backgrounds to join and help grow our business. This event proved a great opportunity for young people to get hands-on experience with STEM subjects and meet with potential future employers such as G&H. We received a lot of interest and attention surrounding our free space fiber coupling demo and examples of optical components we had on show. Our target audience was students in the range of age 15+ and we spoke to numerous individuals, giving out over 100 flyers with details of our company and apprenticeships we offer at G&H Torquay. It was also a fantastic opportunity to promote G&H in the South Devon area; not just amongst students but also teachers and smaller start-up companies too. Staff from other businesses such as opticians Specsavers, were intrigued to learn of our part in delivering the OCT technology.

Staff attending were Ben Marchant, Elliott Prowse and Peter Kean from G&H Torquay. Our Torquay facility is home to our UK fiber optic components and modules manufacturing. Click here for more on our capabilities in this area.