7 February 2011

Cable Urges More Businesses to Say 'You Are Hired' to an Apprentice

Business Secretary Vince Cable and Skills Minister John Hayes have urged more employers to drive economic growth by creating a new generation of skilled workers, while underling the government's commitment to increase the budget for Apprenticeships to over £1,400 million in 2011-12.Dr Cable welcomed the expansion of British Airways successful engineering apprenticeship scheme, to take on 120 students this year. This will give more students the opportunity to become full time employees of British Airways.

Ministers also praised UK firms including British Gas, Superdrug and Procter and Gamble, which between them will create thousands of new apprenticeship places this year. BT, which hosted the event, is offering 250 places across the Group, and Jaguar Land Rover will create 1,200 new Apprenticeship places.

Calling on firms to follow the lead of these employers, Dr Cable said that the Government wanted to work with business to deliver 100,000 more apprentices by 2014. He welcomed the news that 12,000 apprentices would complete their training at Morrison's this year.

Ahead of the launch of Apprenticeship Week in London, Dr Cable said that investment in training the next generation of highly skilled workers would be key to sustainable economic growth, and called for an end to outdated values that have seen vocational learning branded a poor relation to academic study.

Apprenticeship Week, 7-11 Feb, is a programme of local, regional and national promotional events run by the National Apprenticeship Service to raise the profile of apprenticeships. The week is supported by over 500 events and activities being run by high profile employers, colleges, learning providers and apprentices themselves.