In 2016 Mike Scotson from Widnes was given little more than 24 hours to live after a ‘disastrous’ weight loss operation – but he survived and is now an entrepreneur after taking part in a skills bootcamp. Ben Turner reports

In 2016 Mike Scotson dropped 22 stone and was given just 24 hours to live after a “disastrous” weight loss operation.

However, against the odds Mike, from Widnes, survived. Now aged 59, the former sales executive has seized this second chance and launched his own business venture after completing a Cheshire skills bootcamp.

Mike had carved a successful career in sales – latterly working as a senior development manager for electrical retailer Comet. 

But he was forced to retire, nearly losing his life when his world came crashing down in the aftermath of a private weight loss operation in 2010. This was intended to treat his weight gain sparked by a pituitary tumour a few decades earlier.

He said: “It went really badly wrong. I lost something like 22 stone dropping from 30 to just over eight stone, the weight loss just didn’t stop, and I was literally skin and bone.

“I was suffering from malnutrition and had a 5cm channel in my bowel to absorb food, in a normal human it’s 21 feet. I ended up in Whiston hospital for five months and in July 2016 was transferred to Manchester Royal Infirmary.

“They expected me to pass away within a day or two. Fortunately, I was given revision surgery, and a brilliant surgeon Alan Li saved my life.”

Although Mike’s health has vastly improved his enforced retirement was frustrating. He added: “I had written my working life off. You feel useless, worthless.”

But Mike said taking the plunge and completing a skills bootcamp last year has transformed his life and allowed him to set up his own business. 

Run by employers, colleges and training providers, the 16-week training skills bootcamp programmes help employers recruit people with the right skills, upskill existing staff and give residents the chance to learn sector-specific skills and get a guaranteed interview. 

Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington data reveals that 900 people in the region have signed up to one of the region’s Skills Bootcamps in the last three years.

In Mike’s case he enrolled on a 3D Printer, 3D CAD and Digital Manufacturing skills bootcamp run by Leigh-based specialists 3D 360.

This flexible rolling programme embraces the connected digital world of technology known as Industry 4.0. It includes a mixture of online modules and in-person sessions with all participants able to keep the 3D printer they build and learn how to operate.

Elements include 3D printing and computer automated design (CAD) training, robotics, advanced automation, additive manufacturing, the role of the ‘Internet of Things’ in modern manufacturing, cyber security and digital manufacturing.

Mike proved such a natural that he has now set up his own 3D printing and CAD training business EmmEss Training. He is working three days a week for 3D 360, training not only skills bootcamp recruits but mentoring the company’s own younger trainers.

He is also using his newfound 3D printing knowledge to launch bespoke products ranging from personalised brass instrument mouthpieces, made after scanning the user’s face, to a nifty device to store poo bags on dog owner’s leads.

Now is urging others to sign up for bootcamps. He explained: “It has given me a new lease of life. As well as my training role I am starting my own print farm to do print on my demand for some of the bigger companies. It really has been life changing.”

Led by experienced engineers from the nuclear, and automotive and commercial design sectors, 3D 360 is a training provider and consultancy in Digital and Additive Manufacturing (AM / 3D printing) and 3D CAD. 

Since November 2021 its team has delivered face to face training to more than 1,600 people and have gifted over 1600 free 3D printers worth more than £250,000 to learners with over 350 of these going to schools and education.

3D 360 delivers Department for Education funded skills bootcamps training across Cheshire & Warrington, Merseyside, Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.

One of its directors Paul Bullock, who spent 30 years working within the nuclear sector, including senior roles on some of the most complex nuclear decommissioning projects in Europe, said Mike’s success epitomised the aim of the Skills Bootcamp programme. 

He said: “Mike is an outstanding trainer, very personable and brings out the best in learners. He can say ‘I was sat where you are and now, I have this role’, it’s so inspiring.

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“The skills bootcamp is about developing skills and reducing barriers. In Cheshire around 40% per cent of learners are over 50 and we want to get people like Mike who have dropped out of work for whatever reason, harness existing skills and upskill them.”

In May this year Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington confirmed it had secured more than £2m in Government funding to create a further 640 places on around 40 skills bootcamps covering subjects from artificial intelligence to railway construction.

Click here to find out more about the bootcamps.