Post-GCSE teenagers will be taken on in the pre-press, press and bindery functions and for the first time 10 recruits will join the firm's engineering teams.

The group-wide, three-year apprenticeship programme, run in conjunction with the BPIF, was launched in January this year and will eventually number more than 100 apprentices.

Polestar group human resources director Catherine Hearn said that the scheme could continue beyond next year, depending on the group's needs.

She said: "The success to date of our scheme and the high calibre of our current apprentices is confirmation that we are adopting a strategy that will raise skill levels and standards across the group." Polestar's first 38 apprentices, appointed in January, are working towards NVQ level 2 and 3 qualifications with a mix of on-site training, block release and distance learning at Leeds College of Technology.

Polestar is also to recruit a small number of post-A level students to join the group as trainee managers. The recruits will take a part-time degree during their training.