Mon, 10 Jan 2011
An adult learner in Accrington has become the one millionth person to get a qualification through the government's Train to Gain scheme.
Chris Scott, a worker at William Blythe, completed his Level 2 NVQ in business improvement techniques, earlier this year.
This made him the 62nd person at the company to use Train to Gain to increase their capabilities.
"Learning new skills on the job and working on projects in teams has helped us to quickly make improvements to the way we work," he said, adding that the staff are "pleased" to get their qualifications.
Managing director of the firm Tim Hughes praised Train to Gain, stating that investing in training has "been a good business decision" for him.
Chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council Geoff Russell also commended Mr Scott for his achievement.
He explained firms like William Blythe that invest in training benefit from having "more skilled and more committed" staff, adding that over 75 per cent of businesses say that Train to Gain has helped improve their performance.
Last month, figures from the government revealed that the initiative has been beneficial to businesses during the recession, with 41 per cent of business leaders questioned saying that the services offered have made the downturn easier to cope with.
The service, which has been running since 2006, enables enterprises to train their employees to a higher level than they would have been able to otherwise, the report found.
Almost £1 billion is to be invested in the service by the government during the current financial year, in addition to the £38 billion per annum spent on training by employers.
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