Trained staff are higher calibre employees

Training staff will help employers to attract and retain "higher calibre employee[s]" who are loyal to the company which has invested in them.

That is the view of Working Links, a group established to help the long-term unemployed back to work.

Will Cookson, head of skills at Working Links, suggested that training employees helps to keep staff turnover to a minimum and therefore saves companies money in the long run.

Commenting on the benefits of staff training, Mr Cookson said: "If the employer continues to invest in them and value and train them, they’re more likely to stay in employment rather than doing what the employer does fear, which is going and working for another [company]."

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Mr Cookson said that it is vital employers ensure their staff have the "knowledge and understanding" of the sector they work in, so that they can pass that onto the customer.

The government has invested £15 million in skills and training for Londoners who have lost or who are concerned about losing their job.