Accor and TGI Friday's join pledge for 23,000 apprenticeships

16 March 2015 by Hannah Thompson

Accor Hotels and TGI Friday's are just some of the hospitality operators which confirmed their commitment to creating thousands of new opportunities for young people during National Apprenticeship Week.

The initiative, which ended on Friday 13 March saw a total of 23,000 apprenticeship placements for 2015 being pledged across all industries.

Pubco giant Greene King announced at the start of the week that it would create 2,000 apprenticeships over the next 12 months, and will seek to have at least one apprentice working at each of its 1,000 sites at all times. At the same time, WSH companies BaxterStorey, Caterlink and Holroyd Howe announced the launch of a joint Apprentice Academy.

Smaller businesses which have committed to take on apprentices include two hotels in Cornwall: the Boskerris Hotel in St Ives, and the Budock Vean, near Falmouth.

The news comes as the National Apprenticeship Service highlighted a new report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which stated that businesses could reap significant benefits from employing apprentices, and showed that within catering and hospitality, 27% of customers were likely to pay more in an establishment that hired apprentices.

The report also estimated that each apprentice within hospitality could deliver an average positive net gain of £5,896 per year.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The success of National Apprenticeship Week 2015 and these 23,000 pledges highlights just how popular apprenticeships have become. More and more young people, parents, teachers and employers are recognising the value of learning on the job."

Small businesses employing fewer than 50 people can apply for a grant of £1,500 from the government to help them to take on an apprentice.