Co-op launches apprenticeship academy

The Co-operative Group has launched an Apprenticeship Academy, which will create 2,000 jobs over the next three years.

Apprentices will be based within one of The Co-operative’s businesses which range from food, pharmacy and motors to legal and financial services and farming, as well as many corporate functions such as IT and funeral industry apprenticeships.

Apprentices will work towards a nationally recognised qualification and can progress onto the group’s management development programme.

Group chief executive Peter Marks says: “With youth unemployment hitting the highest rate in nearly 20 years and almost 1m 16-25-year-olds out of work, it’s a really tough time to be a young person in Britain.

Get our essential weekday HR news and updates. URL This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Work Email Keep up with the latest in HR... This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_form This field is hidden when viewing the form Optin_date Year Month Day This field is hidden when viewing the form Batch_Newsletter

“We believe businesses have a real responsibility to help motivate and inspire young people by giving them new opportunities to gain the skills, knowledge and experiences to be pioneers for their generation.”