Peterborough employers welcome Government plans to get more youngsters into workplace

Apprentices and their employers in Peterborough have welcomed a new Government initiative to encourage more young people into the workplace.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall visited Peterborough College yesterday (November 25) to see first hand the training and skills available to apprentices and their employers.

Her visit came ahead of the publication of the Get Britain Working Again White Paper which promises a £240 million reform to national employment support including a ‘youth guarantee’ vow to 18 to 21-year-olds of an apprenticeship, education or help to find a job.

Afterwards, Mark Brear, director of EML Electrical, in Dodson Way, Fengate, said: “It is important the Government is listening to the fact that we need to get more young people into work.

"Young people are absolutely crucial to the future of the business and for us without the apprentices we would not have a future.

"The industry has a massive deficit of people starting to leave and so initiatives like this help to encourage

Engineering apprentice Lewis said: “It is good the minister has come to Peterborough to listen to what we think.”

Nigel Wilkinson, of food processing equipment suppliers Baker Perkins, in Manor Drive, Peterborough, said: “It is promising and is moving in the right direction.

"We need to encourage apprenticeships a lot more and anything that helps do that has got to be a step in the right direction.

He added: “Apprentices are the lifeblood of many companies."

Apprentice Thomas said: “Apprenticeships need to be promoted more at secondary school as opposed to just college sixth form or university because there are good alternatives.”