Political leaders and captains of industry today threw their
weight behind the Standard’s “hugely important” apprenticeship campaign aimed
at tackling appalling levels of youth unemployment in London.
David Cameron said he was delighted to support our appeal to
employers to hire apprentices and help get the capital’s 120,000 jobless young
adults off the dole.
The Prime Minister said: “Apprenticeships are absolutely key
to growing our economy, giving young people the chance to learn a trade and
helping to build the highly-skilled workforce our businesses need.
“Apprenticeships are good for people who want to get ahead,
good for business and good for the country. It’s great to see the Evening
Standard getting behind young people and working with businesses in this way.”
Some of the capital’s best known business leaders, ranging
from BA boss Willie Walsh to Jamie Oliver, have also welcomed the Standard’s
Ladder for London campaign. It is urging the capital’s 300,000 businesses —
small, medium and large — to take on apprentices and help get London working.
Over the last few days the Standard has highlighted the
plight of young people locked out of the jobs market and the stories of those
transformed by apprenticeships.
The Mayor, who tonight speaks at the London Apprenticeships
Awards at City Hall, offered his “full support” to the initiative.
Boris Johnson said: “Ladder for London is a hugely important
campaign on a hugely important subject. Earlier this year I highlighted the
issue of youth unemployment in the capital with this paper’s editor, and I
agreed to lend my full support to the Standard’s efforts to address the
problem, alongside my fight to highlight all means possible to get young
Londoners into work.”
Support for the campaign came from across the political
spectrum. The Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
said: “The country faces many challenges but one of the greatest is tackling
our unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment. I recently launched the
Government’s £1 billion Youth Contract to give every unemployed youngster the
chance to earn or learn. But we need the support of businesses in London and I
hope that thousands of them heed the Standard’s call to take on more
apprentices.”
Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “Apprenticeships matter. They
offer not just the prospect of a good job, but of a route on and up into a
career for the next generation. I am delighted to give my support to the
Standard’s excellent campaign to give London’s young people a chance to work,
which comes at such an vital time.
“Long-term youth unemployment in London has gone up over the
last year. This is an issue that the Government needs to urgently address.”
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said: “I applaud the
Standard’s campaign, particularly the fact that the paper is showing these
young people in a very positive way. The people highlighted in the paper are
trying to make their way in a society where everything is stacked against
them.”
Some of the country’s most respected industrialists offered
their enthusiastic endorsement. Anglo American mining group chairman Sir John
Parker, who started as a 17-year-old naval architect at shipbuilders Harland
& Wolff, said: “Apprenticeships are critical for young people as it gives
them the opportunity to develop practical skills and achieve academic
qualifications. Apprenticeships bring the dignity of employment. I commend the
Standard.”
Mr Walsh, who is also president of the London Chamber of
Commerce, said: ”I have always argued that apprenticeships are as important as
a university degree and, in many cases, more important. My three brothers went
through apprenticeship schemes so I know first hand how important the skills
are that you learn. It is a really valuable and positive learning experience —
but also a life experience.”
Oliver, who left school at 16 and has long been associated
with helping unemployed young people find rewarding work, said: “I’ve been
involved in taking on apprentices for 10 years now through Fifteen restaurant
and it’s one of the most rewarding things a business can do. This is a great
campaign to help young Londoners.”
Simon Thomas, owner of the West End’s recently opened
Hippodrome Casino, said: “The Standard’s campaign is just what London needs.”
John Burton, director of development at shopping centre
group Westfield, said: “Apprenticeships equip young people with useful
practical skills that can help them escape the poverty trap while also
contributing to much needed economic growth. Like the Evening Standard,
Westfield is committed to helping the unemployed with training and
apprenticeship schemes.”
Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of leading business
group London First said: “By starting an apprenticeship scheme London
businesses can not only tap into the wealth of skills available locally, but
also help to reduce London’s unemployment – which has remained consistently
higher than the UK average.
“The challenge is great, but if each London employer not
already running an apprenticeship program took on just one apprentice it would
make a significant difference.”
Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas, which is
training 1,100 apprentices this year,
said: “Ladder for London is an opportunity for employers to play their part in
breaking the cycle. Together we can connect a generation with the skills we
need to be a successful, thriving economy and, at the same time, set them on
the path to their own success. We urge other leading British businesses to get
behind the Standard and help this campaign create something special; a
blueprint for Britain.”
For more information visit: standard.co.uk/ladderforlondon
Source: 25th September 2012, London Evening
Standard by Jonathan Prynn, Joe Murphy, Paul Dominiczak
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/work/david-cameron-leads-wave-of-support-for-our-campaign-8175262.html
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