A Somerset-based hair salon has been named Small Employer of the Year on the strength of its job training programmes.
Upper Cut Hair Salons took the award at the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) 2005 Apprenticeship Awards, which aim to celebrate the contributions businesses make to raising the country's skill levels and improving productivity and competitiveness.
Upper Cut's owners, John and Carol Burrows, currently employ 17 apprentices and have established links with local schools through careers activities and work experience programmes for young people from deprived areas.
"The apprentices gain valuable, business-specific skills through on-the-job, paid training," said John Burrows. "As for employers, apprenticeships ensure they have a highly skilled workforce, which we all know guarantees business growth."
The awards were presented at a ceremony in London, adding a new "micro-business" category for firms with fewer than nine people along with the usual awards for small, medium and large employers.
Firms were judged on the way they implemented their apprenticeships, the demonstrable benefits the schemes have brought to their business and the level of support they provide to their apprentices.
"Apprenticeships have a key role to play in boosting productivity in small- and medium-size businesses," said Stephen Gardner, director of work-based learning at the LSC. "Currently one-fifth of job vacancies - some 135,000 places - remain unfilled because of a lack of skilled applicants.
"The National Apprenticeship Awards are a great opportunity to recognise the crucial contribution UK businesses are making to raise skill levels and improve productivity and competitiveness nationally."
