Stoke-on-Trent has been named as one of the leading locations in the UK for the take-up of apprenticeships.
Multiverse, a specialist company working with apprentices acquired government data from an external agency, which ranked the city second in the country only behind Wigan.
Larger towns and cities such as Plymouth, Hull, Sunderland and Rotherham feature further down the 20-strong league table.
The local areas’ network of skills providers – including Staffordshire and Keele universities, Stoke on Trent College, NSCG, City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College and other training organisations – have played a major part in the findings.
Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce is also looking to ensure the right training is available to meet business requirements as part of its leading role developing the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has also been a driving force for the uptake of apprenticeships.
As well offering them to its own workforce since the launch of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017, it has also share its levy with other businesses.
Since April 2017, 544 apprenticeships have been started by council employees.
Since April 2017 the council has also shared its levy with 22 different businesses including IAE, KMF, Lucideon and Teasdale Healthcare, enabling these companies to generate a range of apprenticeship opportunities in the area.
Multiverse’s data revealed that over the past four years there has been an increase of 10 per cent of businesses setting up in Stoke-on-Trent, creating more jobs and opportunities for apprenticeships.
Councillor Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “We want to, as a city, create more opportunities for younger people and people who may be thinking of changing careers or upskilling and apprenticeships are a great way to train or re-train in a specific sector.
“You will see from the statistics that the uptake of the apprenticeship levy shows a desire from the City Council and businesses across Stoke-on-Trent to invest in our people.”
