AEROSPACE firm Hurel Dubois claims it is setting the standard for apprentice training and answering the government call for investment in manufacturing.

Many major firms have scrapped apprenticeships over years of recession and economic uncertainty but the company which took over the Lucas business on Burnley's Heasandford estate 10 years ago has continued the training tradition.

The firm now recruits an average of four new school-leaver apprentices each year.

It means both full time and part-time college training for successful applicants, leading to higher-than-ever qualifications for trainees.

Alec Holt, responsible for training and recruitment at the company, said: "When I undertook what was then a seven year apprenticeship in 1961, it was rare for trainees to get off-the-job training but now it is compulsory to complete a year at college."

Apprentices then work on the shop floor for around two years, with day-release to Burnley College to complete an Ordinary National Certificate and an NVQ Level 3, after which they adopt skilled status.

This year Hurel saw their investment in youngsters pay off again at the college's annual awards, when the prizes for the top Higher and Ordinary national awards and City and Guilds in engineering all went to the company's trainees.

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