That was the question posed by Independent Forgings and Alloys director Craig Syson on the day Industry Minister Margaret Hodge came to Sheffield to officially open the new forge.
The Hillsborough company, which makes precision forgings for a variety of industries, has expanded rapidly. Turnover has increased to £20 million from £3 million in six years, and staff numbers from 30 to 130 in the same time.

But the skills shortage has become so acute the company has started importing forge hands from Poland.
"The average age on the shopfloor is at least 45 and there aren't enough people coming into the industry to replace those who are retiring,'' said Craig.

"We want school-leavers to join us as apprentices, but the schools don't seem interested in promoting engineering or manufacturing and the kids would rather study drama or psychology than sciences and maths,'' he said.

Ms Hodge said it was beyond belief that such a dynamic company should be struggling to find the right youngsters in a city where engineering had such a strong tradition.

"We have to get the skills right. Here we are in the city of steel and companies are struggling to find people who want to work in an industry with such a strong future.

"As a nation, we have to get smarter, we have to encourage employers like IFA to get into local schools and convince the teachers and kids that engineering is not dead.

I think pupils can be inspired by work experience and by trips to the shopfloor to see what world-class, modern industry is all about.''

The Minister saw for herself the £1.5 million highly automated forging shop and praised IFA for the way it had seized opportunities to grow when so many competitors had been downsizing and shedding jobs.

"We have a good story to tell about British manufacturing,'' she said.
"Manufacturing output is rising, but the number of jobs in manufacturing continues to fall because of the investment in new technology and manufacturing techniques.''