23 new recruits have joined Northumbrian Water Group's water division, representing the company's biggest ever single intake of apprentices.
The group will work towards a range of Level 3 qualifications, ranging from water engineering to data analysis, while gaining on the job experience as part of Northumbrian Water's teams in the North East and in the South East, where the company operates as Essex & Suffolk Water.
The apprentices are a mix of school leavers and people who already have varying degrees of experience in the workplace, showing the broadening appeal of this route into a career, as well as the use of apprenticeships to enhance existing skills.
Eliane Algaard, Water Director at Northumbrian Water, said: "This new intake of apprentices into our water division represents a significant investment in the future workforce of our business.
"Apprenticeships are a fantastic route into employment, as well as a great way for people to develop in the workplace. We have recently had more than 200 of our people develop their skills through apprenticeship programmes and are constantly looking for new ways to harness the willingness of people to earn and learn at the same time.
"Our water teams are passionate about delivering excellent services for our customers across the North East, Essex and Suffolk, and they are equally driven towards developing as individuals and teams, so this is a great environment for the apprentices to gain experience and skills."
Northumbrian Water Group is part of the Energy & Utilities Skills (EU Skills) Partnership, a group of more than 20 organisations that aims to help fill the need to employ a total of 221,000 new recruits into the sector by 2027.