A group of 25 apprentices from the West Midlands travelled to London at the end of March to quiz politicians on the skills gap and the importance of vocational learning.

In-Comm Training, which operates training academies in Aldridge and Shrewsbury, arranged the visit to coincide with the culmination of National Apprenticeship Week and to highlight the need for continued investment to produce the talented engineers of the future.

The company arranged for the young people and 20 of their employers to debate the subject with Business Minister Margot James, the hosting MP Wendy Morton, and fellow MPs Amanda Milling and Daniel Kawczynski.

They were also given a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Westminster and shown how the Houses of Parliament operate.

Gareth Jones, managing director of In-Comm Training, said: “The Government has finally woken up to apprenticeships being real jobs, and the recent reforms will help to attract employers, raise quality and provide a faster route to competence.

“We want to showcase the talent we are developing in the West Midlands to the people that make decisions, and the conversations we had were very positive, building on the introduction of T-Levels — the name given by the media to the Government’s planned overhaul of technical education — in the recent Budget.

“Raising parity of esteem between apprenticeships and other forms of higher and further education is paramount to making sure we get young people considering this as a viable career path. It was also important to express the
business viewpoint, and we had some fantastic employers join us from professional services, retail and industry.”

Rowan Crozier, the CEO of Brandauer, added: “We have to start sharing the message of how important apprenticeships are for the British economy; that’s exactly what this trip did.

“It also highlighted how employers are working with In-Comm to develop their young people. Having a training provider that understands the bigger picture has changed the way we approach apprenticeships and is helping us grow our workforce.”