NI chief urges local firms to invest in youth

"We are facing a massive challenge and it is up to us all to rise to it and ensure Northern Ireland's engineering and manufacturing businesses are at the forefront of the UK's economic recovery," he said. "Youth unemployment is high so there is a great opportunity to get young people into work. With so many retirements coming up and the expected increase in demand as the economy recovers, we need to help firms of all sizes to grow and develop their own skilled people." "Bigger companies have shown it is cost effective to support firms in our supply chain and we need more examples of this sort of partnership in Northern Ireland." Leighton began working life as an apprentice at Shorts. He went on to become union shop steward before moving into supervisory roles when the company was taken over by Bombardier, then into frontline management. As Head of Production at Thales he developed a programme of Business Improvement Techniques, which is now used in industry throughout the UK.