Skills Minister John Hayes recently visited apprentices at Crossrail’s Liverpool Street Station site to promote the “vital role of engineering to society”.

He chatted with the project’s 600th apprentice — 21-year-old Kayne Wilson from Croydon — and colleagues, and he saw some of the skills that the apprentices are gaining by working on Crossrail (Europe’s largest infrastructure project, which is almost 80% complete and is on schedule to open in December 2018).

Mr Wilson joined the Crossrail project as an electrical engineering apprentice for Laing O’Rourke earlier this year. He said: “My apprenticeship has been a fantastic experience; I get to earn as I learn, I benefit from the experience of others, and I can put what I’m taught in the classroom into practice on site. If anyone is thinking of starting an apprenticeship, I would say: ‘go for it’. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Mr Hayes said: “Before 2010 and after, as Apprenticeships Minister, I championed vocational skills. Now, having the responsibility for skills at the Department for Transport, I am just as determined that the Government’s investment in infrastructure should mean opportunities to gain and utilise skills.

“That’s why I am delighted to mark this milestone of a 600th apprentice for Crossrail and recognise the significant contribution apprentices are making to this world-class project.”