Kern appointed Dan Leppard to its customer service team, following his completion of a four-year engineering apprenticeship.

It works with PETA Training and Consultancy Services, a registered charity that delivers a range of courses and training programmes. Leppard marks the second engineering apprentice to qualify through the system.

Managing director Peter Jolley said: "Congratulations to Dan. We are delighted to welcome him officially to the team.

"We are very happy to support apprenticeships and believe that a young and motivated workforce provides practical skills and qualifications that ensure a bright future for the business."

Kern’s apprentices work on various key projects and work on Kern systems in a controlled environment, completely rebuilding the machines under the supervision of a skilled engineer.

PETA engineering training assessor Phil Brooke said: "We have worked closely with Kern to ensure that the most suitable candidates are recruited.

"The success of this relationship can be measured by the fact that this process has been repeated regularly over the past six years; to date, Kern has retained all of its apprentices as service engineers."