Learning curve

APPRENTICESHIPS are back in fashion as the lifeblood of British industry, offering the very best in on-the-job training. Those taken on learn valuable skills, while their employers are investing in the next generation of skilled workers.

Some of the UK’s biggest companies offer apprenticeship schemes.

In Newark, what has historically been one of the town’s major employers, NSK, has this week announced it has taken on its first apprentices for 15 years.

NSK is investing in its factory buildings and machines on Northern Road, and is also now investing in the workforce.

This is no short-term project as the company very much sees them, and other apprentices who will follow in a rolling programme of recruitment, as part of its future.

It’s good to see the firm returning to something that has proved successful in the past — the plant’s managing director, Mr Tim Constantine, says many of the managers there today started as apprentices.

One of the new intake, Tom Hind, is delighted to be following in a family tradition — his father, grandfather and great-grandfather have all worked there.

“The apprenticeships are a really good thing because you have something to show for it at the end of the training,” says Tom.

In an increasingly competitive jobs market there can be little better than the opportunity to learn the right practical skills that can pave the way for a long and fulfilling career.