Back to square one for James (From Durham Times)

Back to square one for James

2:16pm Friday 5th February 2010

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AS National Apprenticeship Week gets under way, a new Government-backed company has been launched in the North-East to encourage more firms to take young people on.

The North-East Apprenticeship Company was launched on Monday by Iain Wright MP, the Minister for 14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships. It is a partnership between Gateshead Council and Gateshead College.

To coincide with the launch and the apprenticeship week, the chief executive of the Durham City-based North-East Chamber of Commerce, James Ramsbotham, took on a new role.

He became an apprentice for the day to 18-year-old Jack Glendinning, Mr Ramsbotham was in no doubt he was learning something important.

After showing Mr Ramsbotham the ropes, Jack spent the afternoon at NECC’s headquarters at Aykley Heads.

Mr Ramsbotham said: “I really wanted to get under the skin of what it means to be an apprentice in today’s society and, thanks to Jack, I had the opportunity to do that.”

The importance of finding jobs and training for young people has become a key issue with total youth unemployment at a 15-year high of almost 943,000 – about one in five 16 to 24-year-olds.

Patricia Wilkinson, director of training and skills development at NECC said businesses are often surprised by the range of apprenticeships on offer.

She said: “It’s about more than engineering.

Apprenticeships are not just offered in traditional sectors but range from accountancy and business administration to dental nursing and laboratory technicians.

The course on built environment is particularly popular at the moment.”

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