Entries Invited For Modern Apprenticeship Awards

25th May 2003

A new generation of skilled workers are to have their achievements recognised in a national award scheme.

Entries are currently being invited from businesses throughout the country for the 2003 Modern Apprenticeship awards.

Managed by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Modern Apprenticeships are designed to help people aged 16 and over gain the skills they need to establish a career - and earn a proper wage while they train.

Now employers from all over Scotland are being asked to nominate their modern apprentices - and their businesses - for recognition in a range of categories, including: personal commitment; outstanding contribution to the community; overcoming the odds; outstanding achievement; best employer; best training provider, and best partnership.

Alex Paterson, director of developing skills with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, said: "The Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards recognise the most accomplished modern apprentices and the employers and training providers who support them.

"More than 25,000 people in Scotland are currently training as modern apprentices - 2,600 of them in the Highlands and Islands alone - across more than 70 industry sectors.

"The programme is helping people and businesses across the country to realise personal success and business success. That's something worth celebrating and these awards are a means of rewarding some of the most outstanding achievements."

Entry forms and more information about the Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards are available from local enterprise companies, or online.

The closing date for entries is 27 June 2003 and the awards ceremony will be hosted by TV presenter Stephen Jardine at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh on 30 October 2003.