Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats

From L-R: MD Kevin Schofield, Brian Barker, Joseph Fryer, Mick Chapman, Damien Dutton, Gordon Birtwistle, Kathleen Birtwistle, Gerry Gilroy.

Gordon Birtwistle, MP for Burnley and Padiham, visited fantastic local firm Futaba Tenneco  to meet their new apprentices and hand over the prize in his ’100 apprentices in 100 days’ campaign.

Futaba-Tenneco UK Ltd have reaped the benefits of their young and adult apprenticeship schemes by winning the 100 Apprentices in 100 Days competition, sponsored by local MP Gordon Birtwistle. Gordon presented the award to Young Apprentice Joseph Fryer in a small ceremony at the Burnley firm’s plant. The prize is a meal for two in the House of Commons and a guided tour conducted by Gordon.

Gordon launched the campaign and challenged local firms to take on an apprentice at the North West Manufacturing Conference at Burnley College earlier last year. Within 100 days, participating organisations had taken on a total of 103 apprentices, with many others indicating that they plan to in the next year. All participating companies were entered into a prize draw and Futaba Tenneco were the lucky winners.

FTUK MD Kevin Schofield said:

“We are pleased to accept this award. – we are fully committed to training and developing all our employees, but sometimes it is nice to receive recognition for it.”

Commenting, Gordon said:

“It is fantastic to see the enthusiasm with which local companies have leapt up to meet the challenge I laid before them at the Conference. Burnley has so many opportunities for those with the skills to take them up and apprenticeships are a great way for young people to gain those skills – first hand and on the job.”

“It is crucial that we continue to encourage more apprenticeships, not only for today but to help build the skills Burnley needs for the future. Recent figures show a fantastic increase in apprenticeships in Burnley and Padiham last year– and we need to continue building on this success.

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