The Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network is an employer-led body sponsored by the Skills Funding Agency in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its remit is to encourage more employers to become involved in

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

s in England. The Network is the successor body to the Apprenticeship Task Force established by the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

David Meller David Robert Meller (born December 1959) is a British businessman, and the sponsor of an academy trust, and a member of the Department for Education's board of directors, until the scandal surrounding the Presidents Club, of which he was the j ...

, of the Meller Group, was Chair from 2014 - 2018 followed by Jason Holt CBE of the Holts Group of Companies from 2018 to 2022. The previous Chairman was Sir Roy Gardner, Chairman of

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including off ...

Plc. Members include ex-apprentice Mike Turner

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

Chairman of

Babcock International Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

and companies as diverse as Asda, British Gas, BT and Toyota. The Network has presented Honorary Apprenticeship Awards to prominent people who have served an Apprenticeship and/or have had significant involvement in work based learning or achieved success via social enterprise or their profession. These Honoraries in turn then act as role models for young people and other employers. In June 2007, at 11 Downing Street, Honorary Apprenticeships were awarded to

Gary Rhodes Gary Rhodes (22 April 1960 – 26 November 2019) was an English restaurateur and television chef, known for his love of English cuisine and ingredients and for his distinctive spiked hair style. He fronted shows such as ''MasterChef'', ''Mast ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, Charles Worthington , and Kamal Basran. Recipients in 2009, at an event at 10 Downing Street, were

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

, Sir John Cassels CB, Mike Turner CBE,

Alan Titchmarsh Alan Fred Titchmarsh HonFSE (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster, TV presenter, poet, and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a gardening journalist, he established himself as a media personality through a ...

, Brian Turner

, and Margaret Gildea

. In 2011, recipient Sir Alan Jones, former Chairman, Semta, received his award during the National Apprenticeship Service Awards in June. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London,

Frances O'Grady Frances Lorraine Maria O'Grady, Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (born 9 November 1959) became the General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) in 2013, the first woman to hold the position. After O'Grady presented her resignat ...

, TUC Deputy General Secretary, Allan Cook CBE, Chairman Atkins Plc, and John Armitt, Chairman, Olympic Development Authority also received Honorary Apprenticeship Awards for 2011 at a ceremony at Lancaster House on 14 December 2011. On 10 July 2013, Ross Brawn OBE, Theo Fennell, Christine Gaskell MBE, Michel Roux Jr, Pete Waterman OBE and Baroness Wall of New Barnet received Honorary Apprenticeships, presented by Deputy Prime Minister Rt Hon

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

, at Admiralty House.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070510050121/http://www.employersforapprentices.gov.uk/ Apprenticeship Education in England Economy of England Internship programs Vocational education in the United Kingdom {{UK-edu-stub

See also

References

External links