Today the Government is marking the fact that two million apprentices have taken up their posts since 2010. A highly skilled workforce is critical to the future competitiveness of the electronic systems sector and apprenticeships will play a bigger role in the future of the industry. 35,000 electronic systems companies throughout the UK collectively employ 850,000 people and expect this to rise to 1m by 2020 through increasing both the quality and quantity of employees in the sector. Many senior executives in our industry started out as apprentices and have reached the highest levels in global multinational companies, so we already know the potential that Apprentices offer to the future of our sector. To enable companies in our sector to take full advantage of the apprenticeship programme, an Electronic Systems Trailblazer has been established to enable companies in our sector to design the standards that meet business needs. We are looking to develop standards across Levels 2 to 7, the equivalent of GCSE through to Masters level, and look forward to working with BIS to developing the future recruits that will make the UK a more attractive location for inward hi-tech investors. To see the Government press release, click here