Warrington gives region a boost

THE North West has been dubbed Britain’s “apprenticeship capital” – and workers in Warrington are being credited with having a lot to do with it.
New government figures show the economy grew by 0.8 per cent between
July and September, and the success of apprenticeship schemes is being highlighted as contributing to the upturn.
Overall, unemployment in the North West has fallen over the past three years, including a 1.7 per cent drop for the under 25s, with 3.2 million now employed in the region.
A total of 249,860 people in the North West have also received apprenticeship training since 2010 – making up more than a sixth of all the apprentices in England.
Sellafield Ltd has a proud tradition of apprentice training and recruitment going back more than 60 years. The company charged with cleaning up Europe’s largest and most complex nuclear site, has taken on a record number of new apprentices this year.
The 121 first year apprentices add to an overall total of more than 400 apprentices employed by Sellafield, mainly at the site in Cumbria but with others at the engineering and design office at Risley near Warrington.
The intermediate and advanced apprenticeships offered by Sellafield Ltd encompass a wide variety of areas, from engineering-based subjects such as nuclear working and process manufacturing to the office-based business and administration. The company has also recently added a new higher apprenticeship in project management.
Les Agnew, head of education and skills at Sellafield, said: “The skills required to operate the most complex nuclear site in Europe are a
continued focus for Sellafield, and apprenticeships are the cornerstone of our skills refreshment and recruitment strategy.
“We consider apprenticeships to be a practical and cost-effective solution in developing people with exactly the right skills, knowledge and behaviours that our business requires.
“We are constantly challenged to recruit the numbers of technically qualified people to conduct our operations, and apprenticeships provide a continued supply of highly qualified and competent people.
“We’re recruiting more apprentices than ever before, and will do for at least the next five years.”
Steve Corcoran, Confederation of British Industry chairman in the North West said: “After many years of economic challenge, the North West economy is showing visible signs of recovery across a number of its markets. “The region is particularly well placed, with strength in depth, across a number of key manufacturing, business services and education sectors including automotive, aeronautical, nuclear and renewable energy.
“This strong industrial base, well-developed financial and legal services sector, and strong presence in higher and university education positions the North West extremely well to benefit from the ongoing recovery.
“Whilst there is still some way to go before we can state that a sustainable recovery is fully in place, investment and employment decisions – including apprenticeship schemes – give a positive and encouraging outlook.”