HRH The Duke Of York Makes Inaugural Visit To Apprentice Academy

MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM – March 29, 2012: Colleagues at Mercedes-Benz UK Limited were delighted on Wednesday morning when His Royal Highness The Duke of York called in as the first guest to be welcomed to its new Apprentice Training facility. The Apprentice Academy has recently been relocated from an existing site in Milton Keynes to a new purpose-built facility at Mercedes-Benz's UK headquarters at Tongwell.

Mercedes-Benz UK has invested £2.1 million into its new Apprentice Training facility, which provides industry-leading training for young people to become Mercedes-Benz qualified technicians and parts advisors. The Duke of York was introduced to a group of current apprentices, and heard first-hand about the benefits of being part of the apprenticeship programme, which leads to nationally-recognised NVQ and VRQ qualifications.

His Royal Highness regards apprentice programmes such as this as key to ensuring that young people are best able to take advantage of the challenges that exist in the 21st Century and have the opportunity to develop relevant employability skills.

From 10,000 applications, 150 apprentices will join the Advanced Apprentice Programme in 2012. Since opening in 1995, 1148 apprentices have graduated from The Apprentice Academy, with 60 per cent of those who graduated still working within the brand 10 years later.

Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK said: “We were honoured and delighted when His Royal Highness The Duke of York asked to visit us. Our new Apprentice Academy will be operational for the first intake of students on 16 April, and is a fantastic example of how Mercedes-Benz UK is making a long term investment in people, and in the future of British industry.

“The Mercedes-Benz brand makes a huge contribution to the UK’s economic, engineering, technology, business and cultural landscape, and secures UK-wide employment across a range of disciplines, including youth development through our apprenticeship scheme.”