Paving the way for women in engineering: Annette Weekes, GM of Pursuit Aerospace

It’s certainly been an interesting start as general manager at Pursuit Aerospace for Annette Weekes. It was in the run up to joining the former Paradigm Precision in December 2022 when she was told the news that it would be combining forces with the US based Whitcraft Group to form a new merged group called Pursuit Aerospace.

“It’s exciting though; the Pursuit ethos is driven by Kaizen - continuous improvement to drive innovation - and I’m looking forward to seeing how that drives our site. We have plenty of great aerospace projects, as well as a strong order book and big investments in equipment like the new digital robotic x-ray equipment we’re currently installing. Over the coming months, I want to embed this technology and successfully implement new product streams - and of course, support the continued transition from Paradigm to Pursuit,” Annette tells us as we meet in her office at the 125,000 sq ft Burnley site on Bentley Wood Way.

Having such a huge change to navigate so soon in her new role doesn’t seem to faze Annette, but when you take into her account her impressive experience, it’s easy to see why. She’s also a director at the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP), as well as the chair of the LEP manufacturing sector working group. On top of that, she’s a director at the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, a non-executive director at the North West Aerospace Alliance and a governor at Burnley College.

When we discover she also has two young children, Isabelle, 11, and Oscar, 7, we’re not quite sure how she fits it all in.

“I’ve become very good at juggling,” Annette explains.

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A SUMMER SET HER CAREER PATH IN MOTION…

Annette was born in Burnley and attended Habergham High School, which is where her interest in aerospace began. She took a summer internship at NASA in Houston to support their summer space school and the spark was ignited, particularly after witnessing a shuttle launch.

She then studied for a business degree before joining PDS CNC Engineering, working initially in quality systems and then operations management, during which she also gained a masters in manufacturing leadership from Lancaster University. Her career led her to directorships of PDS, and Morow, a company designed to help stroke patients in the early stages of recovery to stand up and begin walking with natural biomechanical movements. Under Morow, she was part of the team that bid for and successfully won close to £1 million investment from the National Institute for Health and Cancer Research. Annette joined Paradigm Precision from a role of group managing director of a group of SME engineering companies including PDS CNC, Burnley-based Tooling Solutions and Advanced Fabrications Limited.

If you look up Annette on LinkedIn, aside from her impressive experience, you can’t help but notice the MBE title too…

“During Covid, I worked with Sherry Kothari at the University of Lancaster to pull together a manufacturing cluster to help supply the NHS with products and services where there were extreme shortages. We had lots of manufacturing companies who were struggling for work or just wanted to support in a time of need, and everyone from fabric manufacturers to Burnley businesses such as Velocity Composites came forward to offer their help. Lots of businesses supported with local made PPE. The focus was to make and deliver these products locally to support the local NHS. I formed the cluster group of manufacturers, and it was this work that resulted in me being awarded an MBE for services to business. It was a phenomenal honour, if slightly bizarre experience, going to Buckingham Palace and I’m thrilled my children got to join me,” Annette says.

Aside from that initial spark at NASA, Annette’s grandfather used to work at Burnley’s Lucas Aerospace, which after several iterations is the current Pursuit Aerospace. There are several team members at the site who have worked there for 40 years since the Lucas days, but one thing Annette has noticed over the years is the improving ratio of females in the industry.

“Several members of our leadership team are female, our financial controller, our HR director and of course there’s myself as general manager, so I think that’s pretty good. We have a growing number of female apprentices coming through too, but of course we could all do more. It’s really important as businesses that we get into schools, explain the benefits of studying STEM subjects and that careers linked to these are well paid and have longevity.

“It’s not just about ‘getting mucky’ either – digital, cyber and robotics are all part of modern-day engineering firms,” Annette explains.

Of course, businesses themselves have a responsibility to raise awareness amongst young people.

“We have some cracking businesses in Burnley, we need to really all shout about this and keep talent here. Look at what Mark Crabtree has done at AMS Neve and for the borough. You don’t need to move to a city or out of area; Burnley also has a great quality of life and low cost of living and there are many exciting career options right here.

“Businesses in Burnley, as well as wider Lancashire, can be too humble and we don’t always shout about our successes and the excellence that is here. We need to embrace self-promotion, which is where the Burnley Bondholders really excel. There is strength in networking and celebrating one another and the reason the bondholders have been so successful is because of collaboration,” Annette continues.

The workforce of Pursuit Aerospace epitomise the collaborative and resilient attitude required in an everchanging industry. The longest servers have proven that over the years, whether that is embracing changing technology – or a new brand!

“They’ve also embraced me since I’ve joined and whilst I’m only four months in and a lot has happened, it’s been a positive experience so far and I look forward to seeing where everything takes us,” Annette concludes.

Annette is certainly a role model for young females looking to enter the industry and we’re thrilled that Pursuit Aerospace lives that ethos of attracting a wider demographic into the sector, all right here in Burnley.