Government drive by Department of Education for more London apprentices

A new campaign by the Department for Education is urging small companies to take on apprentices.

It has been launched today by Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Robert Halfon, aimed at better understanding of apprenticeships in industry.

One example in east London being flagged up in the campaign is Blue Engineering in Shoreditch.

Apprenticeships were first tried at the company in 2012, in a programme that has expanded since then with its rising business, the company reveals. Past and present apprentices now account for almost half the Blue Engineering workforce.

But Whitehall is concerned that almost three-quarters of other small and medium enterprises are “yet to be convinced of the merits of apprenticeships”.

So the campaign aims to challenge perceptions and has funding available to help pay salaries for paid learning.

Apprentices taken on since 2012 in London reached 46,000, just over half of them women, with most companies reporting how placings had improved productivity.

Some 24,200 employers took on apprentices in London last year alone.

Latest estimates released last today are that 200,000 apprentices are expected to be recruited by small firms up and down the country in the next 12 months.