Watch: Duke hails Shropshire Star apprentice drive on visit

Prince Andrew was speaking during a visit to the Shropshire Star, where he backed the Ladder for Shropshire campaign drawn up to help thousands of youngsters get a job by creating apprenticeships.

He said the campaign would create a "win-win situation" for both businesses and young people in the county.

In an exclusive interview, he said: "Apprentice is a term, it is about training and young people – and it makes no difference when they come out of full-time education, 16, 18, 23 or whatever it is, they are still going to need to be trained in what they choose to do and this is equally valid for a rural community such as Shropshire as it is for an urbanised or industrial community as in Telford.

• Visit www.ladderforshropshire.co.uk

"I think that so long as Ladder for Shropshire is tailored to local needs and local business requirements you are going to have a win-win situation for both the businesses and the young people ."

His Royal Highness is supporting the Ladder for Shropshire campaign which is urging businesses to take on an apprentice and for young people to grab the opportunity of a paid work-based training scheme.

The campaign was launched in the newspaper last week in partnership with The Marches Skills Provider Network, Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council.

It aims to bring together companies who are looking to introduce new blood to their workforces with young people who are hungry to start on a new career and the training providers who can ensure they have all the expertise they require.

But it is also hoped that businesses who may have reservations about taking on an apprentice – due to financial or time pressures for example – will be encouraged to get on the ladder.

When asked what message he might have for those firms, the Duke said: "I think it is actually quite simple.

"I acknowledge that in a rural community many of the businesses here are very, very small, for example they are not employing a great many people, but for those of about five to 10 people it starts to become a really growth-enhancing thing taking on a young person who is loyal to them.

"There is of course going to be that moment when having taken the decision to have an apprentice, you have then got to expend the time and the training and the effort but once you have achieved that then the return you are getting is that small business will then be able to concentrate on other things, therefore it means it can grow and so that is where an apprentice really makes a difference.

"It is literally about bringing somebody in and training them."

At the Shropshire Star's office in Ketley, Telford, Prince Andrew also met several young people looking for an apprenticeship, current apprentices and business leaders that run successful apprenticeship programmes or who are interested in taking on apprentices.

During his visit, he also spoke about his time in the Royal Navy and his views on why apprenticeships are so important for the future of the UK's businesses and economy.

Prince Andrew's royal seal of approval is just the start for the Ladder for Shropshire campaign.

Businesses small, medium and large are being asked to consider taking on an apprentice.