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A 3-day celebration of Lincolnshire's Engineering Past, Present & Future

SPARK! Engineering Festival is back for 2019 and promises to be even bigger and better than in previous years.

For the first time, SPARK! 2019 will incorporate Civil Engineering to celebrate and showcase the marvellous achievements of this discipline. This ties in nicely with the construction of Lincoln’s new Eastern Bypass and the many challenges it presents. The magnificent event setting of Lincoln Cathedral is a Civil Engineering masterpiece in its own right.

Engineering...

the application of scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical, societal and commercial problems to help imrpove people's lives and advance humanity.

Throughout history, engineering has been an integral part of life in Lincoln and the the surrounding area. From the time the Romans built a fortress overlooking the Witham, the creation of the Fossdyke Canal, through the construction of the castle and catherdrl, to the industrial revolution and the "founding fathers" of Lincoln's proud engineering tradition- Nathaniel Clayton, Joseph Shuttleworth, William Foster, Joseph Ruston and Robert Robey- and to today's leading engineering communicty, Lincoln's engineers have applied their knowledge and ingenuity to shape the world.

As you follow our journey through history to the present day, you will see how our local engineering community has developed and continues to flourish. We have world leading people and world beating engineering businesses, teachers, researches and technologisits who are applying their knowledge and skills to innovate, design, create and supply the best engineering people, services and products worldwide.

Let our story spark your imagination as it has insoired thousands of people to amrvel at our engineering acheivements and ingenuity of our local heroes and how they have changed our lives.

-Doctor Paul Taylor

We are a family orientated and run local Minibus & Coach company located just to the south of Lincoln in the village of Harmston. Our location gives us easy access to Lincoln, Newark, Sleaford & Grantham as well as surrounding areas. 

Established in 2009 with just one 16 seat minibus we have grown to operate a total of 17 vehicles of various sizes within our group of companies, offering a range of travel services from wedding cars & executive taxis through our coaches to double deck school buses. 

As a family business we offer a friendly and reliable service at a reasonable price meaning we have many repeat customers as well as large corporate & council contract customers as well. 

We operate 24 hours a day all year round and our vehicles are fitted with the latest GPS tracking units as well as many being fitted with CCTV which along with all our staff being DBS checked gives that added piece of mind to you the customer. 

New for 2016 is our Black Cat Garage offering not only our own vehicles higher standard of inspection & maintenance but also our customers vehicles can receive quality repairs & servicing as well as MOT preparation work.

We roast coffee and blend tea in our roastery in uphill Lincoln. We also have a Barista Training Centre for coffee enthusiasts and budding baristas, as well as The Blue Room which hosts music events, plays and weddings. We sell our tea, coffee and machines whole sale and provide an engineer service for the maintenance of the machines. We have three Lincoln cafés - Collection, Lawn and High Bridge, which serve food and our signature teas and coffees. We have been running since 1902. We are based at The Lawn, Union Road, Lincoln. 

The most unusual job probably belongs to Mike, our head roaster.  
We currently employ around 80 members of staff. 
We also employ baristas, chefs, waiting staff, machine engineers. We like our staff to be friendly, professional and passionate about coffee. 

"I enjoy working for Stokes because every day is different - from coffee packing to the Blue Room to the cafés, there is such a variety of things to do that you never get bored. "

Minster Group was formed in 1999 and has grown to become a major supplier to the Ministry of Defence, local authority, major builders and local suppliers. Based in Lincoln, we work on multi-million pound infrastructure projects for many of the UK’s largest construction firms, as well as councils, central government, defence and aviation industry. We’re able to access all areas of the United Kingdom and are regularly asked to carry out works for the Ministry of Defence nationwide.

Initially offering specialist macadam applications  our continued growth and success has enabled Minster Group to offer a full construction package including site excavation, drainage, planing, block paving and surfacing. Our client list has grown to include Balfour Beatty, Carillion Amey, Gelder Group. Kier Group and TARMAC. 

Minster Group is owned and managed by Bruce Spencer-Knott who has over 25 years’ experience and a full working knowledge of the surfacing and construction industry. Bruce is often on site with the operatives, operating the machinery and helping deliver the service to the customer believing truly that excellence in delivery of the product is paramount. The company’s a proud member of The Institute of Asphalt Technology.

In 2016 we moved into our new 3-acre headquarters in Lincoln. Designed and built by local firm Stirlin Developments, the new, bigger site has allowed us to grow our team to 40 full-time employees and subcontractors. We can now also recycle more waste road material than ever – over 20,000 tonnes in just six months.

It’s now been nearly three decades since we opened the very first Vision Express store in Gateshead’s Metro Centre.

We’ve come a very long way since then. But our guiding principle remains the same. And that’s to provide an unparalleled level of customer service. A truly individual service, delivered in a professional yet welcoming environment where vision is taken seriously.

Through organic growth and acquisition there are now 593 Vision Express stores across the UK, Jersey and the Republic of Ireland – from big city destinations to local high street stores. Following our recent acquisition of Tesco Opticians, you’ll now find us in Tesco stores too.

Passion

We’re passionate about service, our products and our workplace. We’re positive, enthusiastic and engaging. We always put our customers first and put 100% into making sure they look and feel great.

Welcoming

Providing a genuine, caring service, we make everyone feel welcome. We engage customers with warmth, sincerity and expertise – taking a real interest in their individual needs and taking time to explain our service and products.

Seamless Teamwork

Without seamless teamwork, we just couldn’t deliver the outstanding level of customer service for which we’re known. We respect professional standards and each other. We always do what we say we’ll do and help out wherever we can.

Learning to succeed

Training and development at Vision Express will support your ongoing success in what could be a rewarding and unique career. It will also see you become an expert at delivering a truly individual service.

Learning here is interesting, interactive and informative. It’s also fun. Whatever your role when you start, we’ll equip you with the skills, knowledge and confidence you need to take your career in the right direction.

Starting with a thorough introduction to our business, we’ve put in place a number of training programmes designed to recognise and realise true potential. Their effectiveness is reflected in the fact that nearly 80% of our managers are in place through internal promotion.

The 5% Club

We’re proud to be backing the 5% Club – a nationwide initiative which sees employers commit to having at least 5% of their workforce aged between 16 and 24 on a structured training programme. We’re proud to say that the figure at Vision Express is now closer to 5.5%. We’re the first retailer to promise to provide support and training for our graduates, apprentices and sponsored students.

Apprenticeships

For enthusiastic young people we offer a 13-month apprenticeship programme that will give them lots of useful skills and valuable retail experience, plus a Level 2 qualification in Optical Retail and the foundations of a successful future career.

Micrometric make a wide range of components for automotive, aerospace, energy and industrial sectors. We use many different manufacturing techniques but nearly every part includes some sort of laser process - laser etching, laser welding, laser drilling or laser cutting. Innovating new processes keeps us at the forefront of the industry sector. We take on apprentices and offer work experience to local schools.

We employ apprentices for mechanical engineering to use laser processing and other machines. We employ engineers to plan and process jobs and engineers and scientists to innovate new processes and investigate buy or make new equipment. We offer an apprenticeship occasionally in the commercial side of the organisation. 

We offer interesting work with a wide variety of jobs, parts, machines and processes to learn within an exciting industry which is pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

At NMB Minebea UK based in Lincoln, we are a world leader in the design and manufacture of bearing technologies. Wherever precision, speed and reliability are essential; we deliver exceptional solutions which improve the productivity and efficiency of our customer’s application or product. 

We are passionate about our product and believe that the key is to understand the challenges our customer’s face, by doing this we then connect our products, people and expertise to deliver exceptional service and solutions. We aim to exceed the expectations of our customers through the production of world-class precision-engineered product.

Throughout time the boar has been a potent symbol of courage and prowess to many cultures around the world. So all in all, we thought it would fit nicely as the name for our restaurant.

We hand pick and train our staff to support us in ensuring that you are welcome in our unique restaurant, enjoy quality service and savour our dishes in a relaxed atmosphere.

Our meats and vegetables are sourced locally, our fish comes from renewable sources and from the British shores whenever feasible. Our choice of wines is based on the recommendation of a sommelier to offer choices from the old world and a couple from the new world that would enhance our dishes.

The name “The Bronze Pig” unites Pompeo’s Italian National origins, the celebration of a long standing and loyal friend with a profound love of pigs and boars and the fact the we are based in Lincoln.

We have 7,640 talented people in a network of offices across the UK united by our values: collaboration, innovation, pride, and passion for our work. We engineer projects that will help societies grow for lifetimes to come.

Our Lincoln office forms part of the Lincolnshire Highways Alliance Design Consultancy, working alongside Lincolnshire County Council to develop a wide range of ongoing highways schemes including Lincoln Eastern Bypass, Grantham Southern Relief Road, Spalding Western Relief road and the proposed North Hykeham Relief Road.

WSP is proud to support development and growth throughout Lincolnshire; and are delighted to have the opportunity to share our work on the World of Work website.

The company has grown from its early beginnings in 1926 to a highly specialised business working across the UK and Europe; but remains based in Lincoln.

Peter Denby is the Managing Director (third generation and grandson of the founder) with other non-family members working in senior positions.

We are extremely proud that 25% of our workforce has over 20 years’ service as employees.  Denby Transport recognises the need to provide training through apprenticeships.  This enables us to pass on our experience and specialist knowledge and enhance it with new skills for the ongoing development of our business.

Southwell is our home, and has been from the very start. For over 50 years we’ve been kneading, beating and mixing, and our range has grown into a wide and varied selection of traditional and continental breads, hand finished confectionary and irresistible cream cakes.

Our dedicated team sell, produce, pack and deliver the 80,000 retail items we sell every day, six days a week. We also keep our ovens fired up 24 hours a day to ensure only the freshest quality baked goods are delivered to our customers.

You'll find our range on the shelves of stores from Liverpool to Grimsby, Sheffield to Peterborough, and in over 230 co-op food stores throughout Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Established in 1944, Simons has been offering property solutions tailored to specific needs for over 70 years. We're a long established, family owned business based in Lincoln; focusing on retail, distribution and health.

Building Greener is our way of making sure we consider the pillars of sustainability in everything we do.

We have annual reduction targets for energy, waste, water, carbon, biodiversity, procurement and we aim to send the absolute minimum of waste to landfill.