THE success of York’s army of apprentices has been celebrated after the city outstripped its targets for offering young people a career path.

The York Apprenticeship Challenge, launched in 2011, aimed to find roles for 100 apprentices in as many days, but this goal was comfortably exceeded and the next ambition is to encourage more businesses to follow suit.

About 13 per cent of York firms now have apprentices on their workforce, and City of York Council leader James Alexander told yesterday’s event at the De Grey Rooms, hosted and organised by the authority’s own apprentices, the target was to increase this to 20 per cent over three to five years.

The event, attended by businesses and organisations which have provided apprentice positions, training providers and employment support agencies, also welcomed new Government policies to support recruitment and training for young people and provide updates on how apprenticeships can be organised and funded.

“Education, skills training and lifelong learning contribute to economic growth and personal development, and apprenticeships give young people confidence, skill and knowledge,” said Coun Alexander.

“Apprentices bring new talent and new ways of working and ground us much more in the market in which we operate. In City of York Council, our apprentices have changed the way we communicate using social media, brought new ideas and ways of doing things, and the apprentices of today will be the chief executives of tomorrow.”

Coun Alexander said he feared “red tape” had blocked many businesses from taking on apprentices and the York Apprenticeship Brokerage Service, launched yesterday, would cut through bureaucracy. The event also saw the screening of a film about apprenticeships by Khaoz Media and the council’s apprenticeship project team.