Leeds Manufacturing Festival has opened entries for its 2026 awards, with manufacturing and engineering employers across West Yorkshire invited to nominate apprentices, rising stars, mentors, graduates, and future leaders before the 17 May deadline. The awards will be presented on 4 June at Leeds Beckett University as part of this year’s festival programme.
Now in their fifth year, the awards recognise young people building careers in manufacturing and engineering, while also acknowledging the employers creating structured routes into the sector. Categories this year include Apprentice of the Year, Rising Star, Future Manufacturing Leader, Mentor of the Year, Graduate of the Year, SME and Employer of the Year, and Manufacturing Ambassador.
The awards arrive at a point when employers across the region are still working to strengthen recruitment pipelines and challenge outdated perceptions of industrial work. Organisers say increasing numbers of young people are choosing manufacturing pathways that offer progression, technical variety, and hands-on experience, while businesses continue to invest in apprenticeship schemes, outreach, and early-career development.
Ben Wilson, managing director of MPM Group and spokesperson for the festival, said: “What we’re seeing across the sector is a new generation coming through with a completely different view of manufacturing. They are embracing the opportunities to develop skills, work with new technologies and build a career.
“The awards are about recognising that talent and making it visible. When you showcase the people behind the industry, it helps change perceptions and encourages others to follow.”
Previous winners have spoken about the impact the recognition had on their confidence and career progression. Eesa Mahmood, an apprentice fabricator and welder at Waites Mechanical Services who won Apprentice of the Year in 2025, said: “Winning the award gave me a real confidence boost and made me realise how much I’ve progressed. Since starting out, I’ve developed a wide range of skills and taken on new challenges.
“It’s an industry where you can keep learning and improving, and I think more people would consider it if they understood what it’s really like.”
Kiera Barrass, an engineering operative apprentice at Leeds Welding Company and a winner in the Rising Stars category last year, said: “The award win has helped me gain the confidence to believe that I can make a good life for myself in engineering.
“I might be small in stature but I’ve been able to achieve just as highly as my male colleagues in this industry and can see a range of options ahead. I now have a clear sense of what I want to do in the career that I have studied for.”
Cash prizes will be awarded to winners, while a donation to the Howarth Foundation will be made on behalf of the Employer of the Year. The Manufacturing Ambassador award will go to the individual judged to have done the most over the past 12 months to promote and raise the profile of the sector.
Further details and nominations are available on the festival’s awards page. For employers across West Yorkshire, the event has become one of the more visible markers of how local manufacturing is trying to renew its skills base in public rather than complain about it in private.
