Citation
(2008), "Yacht-builder sails away with apprenticeship award", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 40 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2008.03740gab.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Yacht-builder sails away with apprenticeship award
Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 40, Issue 7
Yacht-builder Pendennis won the Large Employer of the Year prize at the annual UK Apprenticeship Awards, organized by the Learning and Skills Council to recognize employers who are successfully using apprenticeships to improve business performance.
Pendennis, based at Falmouth, Cornwall, pioneered an apprenticeship in yacht-surface finishing, the first qualification of its kind in the country.
Jill Carr, Pendennis training manager, commented: “One of the main benefits of our apprenticeship program is that the apprentices inject skills, youth, longevity and flexibility into our niche business. Apprenticeships help us to mold employees through training and on-the-job experience, thus providing us with the right level of skills and discipline.”
Businesses were judged on criteria that include their commitment to training, the range and diversity of apprenticeships on offer, the future training of their apprentices and demonstration of the way apprenticeships have benefited their business.
The Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, said: “Over the past decade we have more than doubled the number of young people and adults starting apprenticeships, spanning the breadth of our economy from accountancy to engineering, construction to veterinary nursing – but we plan to do more. In the next decade all qualified school-leavers will have the right to an apprenticeship. It will become a typical choice for young people and adults – at the same time ensuring that businesses get the vital skills they need.
“Apprenticeships are at the heart of the country’s economy. They unlock England’s talent and are the key to our future prosperity.”
More than 130,000 businesses – some 6 percent of employers – currently offer apprenticeships. More than 110,000 apprentices completed their program last year.