Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert met a young constituent at Westminster earlier this month (6 March) at an event to mark National Apprenticeship Week.

The Parliamentary reception welcomed 100 apprentices from around the UK, representing the UK’s Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space sectors. The event celebrated the 12,000 apprentices currently engaged on programmes in these sectors.

Mr Herbert met Joe Flynn from Ashington who is working on an apprenticeship scheme with Thales UK based at Manor Royal in Crawley.

Thales Group is a multinational company that designs and builds electrical systems and provides services for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security markets. In the UK they support 6,300 jobs in the South East. In 2017 they contributed £460million to the South East’s GDP, the largest in the region.

Thales UK next apprenticeship application window starts in Autumn.

Joe said: “It is great to see Nick show his support for the development of skills via apprenticeships, and take the time to come and speak to me about what I do, and for his staff to offer some of their time to give me a tour around Parliament”.

Mr Herbert said: “I really enjoyed meeting Joe and hearing more about his apprenticeship. These give such valuable opportunities for young people, with 90 per cent of apprentices going into work or further training. I wish Joe and all the apprentices in my constituency the best of luck with their future careers.”

ENDS

Notes

1. Photograph: Left to right – Joe Flynn with Nick Herbert.

2. For more information about Thales UK apprenticeships see https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/europe-united-kingdom-career/apprenticeships.

3. To read more about National Apprentice Week 2019 see https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/national-apprenticeship-week-2019.

MP meets apprentices in Westminster