Thirty young people from Cumbria to Cheshire have landed apprenticeships with United Utilities.

Almost 1,100 people applied for places on United Utilities’ award-winning scheme this year, bringing the total number of apprentices at the FTSE100 firm to 118.

This year’s intake will be the first to benefit from a new state-of-the-art technical training centre the company is building in Bolton, which is due to open in November. Seven of the new starters are from Warrington, where United Utilities has its headquarters.

The firm also welcomed 22 graduates who will be joining United Utilities 5,000-strong workforce.

 Managing Director Steve Fraser said United Utilities had a huge skills agenda, delivering over 25,000 days of training a year, and supporting more than 200 staff in further education, commenting:

“Like many industry sectors we need to invest in new talent to head off a looming skills shortage. Our apprentices are vital for our future success. They couldn’t be joining us at a better time as we prepare to start a huge programme of investment.”

United Utilities is also leading a new Government-backed scheme in the North West to fast-track young people who are not in education, training or employment (NEETs) into full-time work into the utility sector.