In spite of the recession, around 10,000 apprenticeships are to be created, the government has announced.

The bill which launched the National Apprenticeship Service, announced by skills secretary John Denham and schools secretary Ed Balls, sees the government commit to around 7,000 new apprenticeships in construction, while retailers have also boosted apprenticeship numbers. Sainsbury’s has recently quadrupled the number of apprentices to 465, Tesco intend to take on a further 800, Superdrug plans a further 1,000 while Phones 4u intends to train at least 1,000 apprentices by next April.

John Denham said: “It’s great that private sector employers are making such a commitment to and an investment in their workforce. We need to do the same in the public sector and must ensure that every pound invested by taxpayers not only helps deliver new infrastructure projects but will also help provide the skilled workers needed in the future and enable more people to build a strong career. Apprenticeships are an excellent way to do this.”