Following the recent Scottish Engineering Member Showcase hosted at Booth Welsh, and our success in winning the Skills Excellence Award at the Scottish Engineering Awards 2026, we caught up with Scottish Engineering CEO, Paul Sheerin, to discuss the importance of collaboration, skills development and innovation in shaping the future of Scotland’s engineering and manufacturing sector. Read what Paul had to say, below:
Q: Following the recent Scottish Engineering Member Showcase hosted at Booth Welsh, what stood out most to you from the event?
"What stood out most was the openness and willingness to collaborate across the room. Events like this reinforce the strength of Scotland’s engineering and manufacturing community when businesses come together to share ideas, challenges and opportunities. Hosting the showcase at Booth Welsh underlined the breadth of capability that exists within Scottish industry, alongside the appetite businesses have to support one another through innovation, skills development and shared learning. When we have opportunities to bring industry leaders together, that creates opportunities for practical discussion, shared problem-solving and new partnerships. The showcase demonstrated how valuable that collaboration is as businesses navigate increasingly complex industry challenges."
Q: How do organisations like Scottish Engineering and Booth Welsh work towards common goals?
"At the core, both organisations simply care that Scotland’s industry is in good shape now and for the future – and they show that by focusing on strengthening Scotland’s industrial future through sustainable growth, talent development, innovation and long-term competitiveness. Scottish Engineering plays a vital role in bringing industry voices together and advocating for the sector, while companies like Booth Welsh demonstrate what modern engineering businesses can achieve through investment in people, technology and partnerships. The result of recognising that achievement allowed us to celebrate Booth Welsh as a fitting recipient of this year’s Scottish Engineering Skills Excellence Award. Holding up best practice examples in this way allows for strong alignment around helping businesses navigate industrial transformation, whether through digitalisation, sustainability, automation or attracting the next generation into engineering."
Q: Collaboration is often discussed as critical to industry growth. Why is it so important now?
"The pace of change across industry is accelerating. Businesses are navigating an uncertain global landscape energy transition, digital transformation, supply chain pressures and evolving customer expectations all at once. No single organisation has every answer, and success lies in being able to adapt faster by keying into others learning whilst sharing our own at the same time Collaboration gives businesses access to broader expertise, stronger partnerships and faster innovation, helping them respond more effectively to complex challenges – but it has to be a two way street in order to achieve balance and fairness. That can mean partnerships between industry bodies and businesses, collaboration across supply chains or multidisciplinary engineering teams delivering complex projects together. Scotland has always had a strong engineering heritage but maintaining that competitive edge will depend on how effectively industry continues to work together moving forward."
