Leading work-based learning provider PM Training is using National Apprenticeship Week to showcase the value of apprenticeships to schools and businesses across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.

And dozens of additional apprentices are expected to be taken on in the region when Newcastle Borough Council urges its supplier companies to hire more PM Training apprentices during a major partnership event.

PM Training - part of the Aspire Group - helps tackle worklessness among young people and provides training and employment opportunities for more than 1,000 people a year, around 200 of which are apprentices. 

It is using National Apprenticeship Week, which runs from Monday 7 to Friday 11 February, to speak to hundreds of students and dozens of local businesses about the benefits of apprenticeships. 

During the week, PM Training staff will be speaking at school assemblies and visiting classrooms to explain to Year 10 and 11 students exactly what the vocational courses entail.

Local schools, such as Mitchell High School, Berry Hill High School and Birches Head High School, will also be visiting PM Training so students can get hands on during some practical workshops, such as painting and decorating, engineering, building services and business administration.

Open evenings for prospective learners and their parents are also being held from 4pm until 8pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, while an awards evening for top-performing apprentices is also taking place on Thursday 10 February - all at PM Training's College Road base.

Will Nixon, PM Training's chief executive, said: "Apprenticeships are more than just learning a trade, they're about becoming work-ready and gaining practical experience so that you know exactly what is required of you when you start work.

"They are an ideal way for young people to prepare for employment and we are going to be using National Apprenticeship Week to raise their profile as a viable alternative to other forms of training."

And PM Training is also targeting businesses directly during the national awareness week, inviting local firms to visit them for 'breakfast briefings', to find out how taking on apprentices can boost the workplace.

A final business link-up will round off the week on Friday 11 February, at Keele University. PM Training will meet up with Newcastle Borough Council and dozens of businesses in its supply chain, to outline how employers can support young people into employment through training and work experience.

Mr Nixon added: "For businesses, taking on apprentices is a great opportunity to employ work-ready, skilled and enthusiast young people.

"This in turn can energise the existing workforce and help other employees to develop, as they can take on mentoring roles at work.

"In addition, PM Training can provide all the HR support employers need to make the scheme work for them and we'll be outlining all these pluses during the week." 

As a training provider, PM Training's track record of progression rates onto apprenticeship schemes is the highest in Staffordshire and among the highest in the UK for a social enterprise organisation. Around 70% of trainees positively progress through its skills programmes and 95% of these go onto full-time apprenticeships.