ipswich: Three new apprentices have secured full-time training with a town centre firm in a move which brings The Evening Star closer to the goal of finding 100 apprenticeships in just 100 days.

The campaign, now in its final days, has seen three young men – aged 16, 17 and 20 – given a fantastic opportunity to be trained as engineers at Ipswich Buses.

This comes as a welcome boost for the company as two of their current apprentices have just completed their four-year training and been taken on as engineers.

Engineering manager Nigel Daniels said: “In these hard times with the cutbacks that are affecting our industry, we have to be careful with what we do.

“But our managing director Malcolm Robson was the one who gave the go ahead. He’s very keen on talking on apprentices and developing their skills.

“We’ve found they’re very keen to learn, and they bring IT skills that some of our staff don’t always have. We’re trying to get some new blood into the industry.”

Jack Dunbavin, 20, has just been taken on to work in the body shop repairing bodywork and getting vehicles ready for inspections.

“I’ve been searching for an apprenticeship for three years,” said Jack, “So to finally find one was a really good experience.

“I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship to other people. You get the opportunity to learn different things in loads of different areas of the buses and you get hands-on experience.”

? Any businesses keen to reap the benefits of a new trainee can e-mail natalie.hoodless@eveningstar.co.uk or call 01473 324840.