Praise for Peterborough electrical contractor EML during shadow employment minister's visit

An innovative employer in Peterborough has been praised for its work recruiting and training apprentices.

The accolade for electrical contractor EML Electrical, in Dodson Way, Fengate, came from Alison McGovern, the Labour Party’s shadow minister for employment, during a visit to the city.

She said: "EML has grown a huge amount over the last six years and part of that growth has been taking on and supporting apprentices.

"And that’s not always and easy thing to do.

"But what I saw an EML is a company that values that and uses the company’s growth to help the people within that company to grow as well.”

Her comments comes as figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 37.5 per cent drop in the number of people starting an apprenticeship in Peterborough – 1,150 in 2022/23 – compared to a decade ago when 1,840 people started an apprenticeship.

Ms McGovern added: “We have got to have more apprenticeships.

"We have got to have young people going into better quality jobs and not just working but learning as well.

"So we would change the Apprenticeship Levy so that we got more apprentices and allowed businesses to take more of a role.

She added: “We would devolve employment support so towns and cities have their own local jobs plans and we'll overhaul failing job centres, supporting people into good jobs across every part of the country."

During the visit she saw a demonstration of the work carried out by apprentices and spoke to managing director Mark Brear about the challenges of running a small business and his commitment to training and development through apprenticeship programmes.

Andrew Pakes, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Peterborough, said: “We’ve seen a big drop in the number of people starting apprenticeships in Peterborough. I want to double the number of people starting an apprenticeship in Peterborough.”

Mr Brear said: “The visit went well and the shadow minister was very well informed

He said: “Apprentices are the lifeblood of the company.

"Employment is a key issue for us and it is difficult recruiting people with the right skills.”

The company, which won the SME Employer of the Year award at the Peterborough Telegraph Apprenticeship Awards 2023, has eight apprentices and 35 staff.