The success of the in-house apprentice training at KMF (Precision Sheet Metal) has been recognised at the company's first Apprentice Awards evening held at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium.

Replenishing the skills pool and training the next generation of precision sheet metal engineers is a role that KMF (Precision Sheet Metal) takes very seriously, hence the decision four years ago to provide its entire apprentice training in-house. Now, those first apprentices to go through KMF's system have qualified and, in recognition of their achievements, and of those following in their footsteps, the Newcastle under Lyme business has initiated an annual awards scheme for the; Apprentice of the Year, Attendance and Timekeeping and Team Leader Choice.

While many businesses are cutting back on training KMF sees it as vital to its continued success by replacing the skills and experience that are being lost through retirement. This is something that Managing Director Gareth Higgins has strong views on: "The people we are losing through retirement take with them a huge amount of experience and technical knowledge, which is very difficult to replace. The apprentices that we are recognising with these awards will play a crucial role in maintaining the high levels of skills available to KMF. With the training and support that we are giving them, they can look forward to taking up exciting roles within a growing business. This will be achieved through hard work on the part of the apprentices and in that respect it is important that we celebrate their achievements."

The apprentices recognised on the evening were Sam Dutton, Callan Evans, Joe Pemberton and Tom Watson, who all received their Intermediate Apprenticeship Certificates after completing two of their four-years of training. Joseph Cowen, Jordan Davies, Dan Evans and Jack Wells each received their Advanced Apprenticeship certificates. The award presented to the best year group for their attendance and timekeeping went to our 2^ndyears, Sam Dutton, Callan Evans, Joe Pemberton and Tom Watson, with an overall individual award in this category going to Nathan Jackson.

The ability of the apprentices to work well with others and contribute to the overall success of KMF was recognised in the Team Leader Choice Awards, which are judged by KMF's team leaders on areas such as reliability, can do attitude, communication skills, organisation, and support given to colleagues. One apprentice from each year group was chosen with the winners being: Jordan Davies (4^thyear); Matthew Page (3^rdyear); Joe Pemberton (2^ndyear) and Jake Moulton (1^styear). These awards were presented by Mark Haig, External Verifier, EMTA Awards Limited, part of SEMTA, which is the Sector Skills Council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies in the UK.

The final award of the evening was for the Apprentice of the Year 2011, which is awarded to an apprentice following the completion of his fourth year of training, based on academic and vocational achievement, commitment to the apprenticeship, improved maturity over the four years, and an inspiration to others. The award was presented by KMF's founding director, Michael Higgins and the recipient was Joseph Cowen.