Top employers celebrate Apprenticeship Week

More than fifty guests from employers across Lancashire have gathered to gear up for Apprenticeship reforms and to celebrate their success in delivering Apprenticeships.

The events form part of Blackburn College's National Apprenticeship Week celebrations and include employers such as Heritage Envelopes, Lancashire Police, and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The week is being supported by the ILM – the largest provider of leadership and management qualifications in the UK – who are delivering an employer workshop on the new Apprenticeship Standards.

Julie Rowlett, North West business manager at ILM said: "Employers are really keen to see the new Management Standards and understand how these can support their existing development programmes. Apprenticeship reforms are a great opportunity for employers to create a more robust staff development plan. We are delighted to be working with Blackburn College to support their businesses.”

Ian Simpson, chair of the national housing consortium, Give Us A Chance said: "It's vital for all housing providers to understand Apprenticeship reforms and how we can get maximum benefit for our staff and our customers. We really appreciate these workshops as a way of helping us to develop partnerships and plan our programmes." Claire Shore, senior business development manager at Blackburn College added: "Our business customers are really taking these changes on board - the Apprenticeship reforms offer great opportunities for employers of all sizes and we are pleased to be supporting our customers in developing their business plans."