The list, which is compiled by the National Apprenticeship Service in partnership with City & Guilds, recognises businesses with superior apprenticeship programmes.
The top 100 list was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at the National Apprenticeship Awards, which took place at The Skills Show in Birmingham on 13 November.
Clegg said: “The Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers have clearly demonstrated how apprenticeships have a major part to play in building great businesses.
“I would encourage more businesses across England to follow these shining examples and find out how apprenticeships can help them build a skilled, motivated and highly qualified workforce.”
Earn while learning
Pub and restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers, which made the list, has delivered more than 10,000 apprenticeships in the past six years.
Director of learning and talent development at Mitchells & Butlers Jan Smallbone said: “Starting as an apprentice at Mitchells & Butlers gives talented young people a genuine ‘earn while you learn alternative’ and a path to a fantastic retail career.
“Not only do our apprentices gain technical skills in both cookery and hospitality, they also build transferable skills that are essential to getting ahead in their careers, as well as the opportunity to further their studies to degree level and beyond.”
People 1st employment academies
The announcement of the top apprenticeship employers came at the same time as hospitality development charity People 1st announced the success of its ‘employment academies’, which have succeeded in filling 5,000 job vacancies in the hospitality industry.
The charity has been working with local training providers and Jobcentres to help employers find new hires with skills specific to the hospitality sector.
People 1st’s Martine Pullen said: “As the unemployment rate continues to fall, employers will find it more difficult to recruit, so using our model - where candidates are screened for suitability to work in hospitality before the academy starts - is the ideal solution.”
Travelodge is one of the hospitality businesses which has been using the scheme. Its resourcing manager Ros Foster said the business ‘immediately noted benefits’ from its use.
“The people who attended the pre-employment training were already used to working as a team, so when the hotel opened they hit the ground running,” she explained.