North West Employers and Young People on course for Apprenticeship Awards

A broad selection of North West employers and individuals have beat hundreds of entrants to be short listed for the North West Apprenticeship Awards.

The categories will be hotly contested at an awards presentation held at Haydock Park Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows on Tuesday 17 May 7-9pm. Organised by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) the awards are designed to celebrate the achievements of apprentices and the businesses that employ them.

Winners will be chosen from the following short listed organisations:

* Apprentices from MBDA Lostock, A-Plant in Warrington and Grosvenor Windows in Bolton
* Advanced Apprentices from BAE Systems in Blackburn, Bentley Motors in Crewe and MBDA Lostock
* Small Employer of the Year from Wishtrac House in Wirral, Foran & Blake Hair and Beauty in Chorley and Fogg & Whittingham in Middleton
* Medium Employer of the Year from Hycrome (Europe) Ltd in Burnley, LT Print Group in Wallasey and GEN II Engineering and Technology in Workington
* Large Employer of the Year from Bentley Motors in Crewe, The Story Group in Carlisle and MBDA Lostock
* Macro Employer of the Year from Balfour Beatty Group in Manchester, The Devere Hotels & Leisure Ltd in Cheadle and Lancashire County Council

Apprenticeships offer young people a training route which combines work-based learning with theory and a recognised qualification, whilst employers experience a range of benefits when hiring an apprentice, including motivated, skilled staff and increased productivity. More than 40,000 people started Apprenticeships in the North West last year.

Sue Price director for the NAS in the North West said: “This year’s awards and the outstanding calibre of entries we’ve received, illustrate the terrific strides that continue to be made within Apprenticeships across the region”.

The National Apprenticeship Awards 2011 received a record number of applications with over 1,600 entries – an increase of over 25% on last year’s awards. The regional winners will be invited to an Oscar-style Awards ceremony in London, on the 29 June 2011, when those selected as the national winners will be announced.

This year the NAS in partnership with City & Guilds is looking for England’s Top 100 Apprenticeship employers. As well as the four employer category winners, the 24 best other employers in each category will be honoured in the Top 100 Apprenticeship employers list.

Visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk or call 08000 150 600 to find out more about Apprenticeships.

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