DIY retailer Screwfix has launched a free guide aimed at helping tradespeople hire apprentices, launched this week at the company’s Brixton store by Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, Sajid Javid MP.

The booklet, ‘Your Guide to Hiring an Apprentice,’ will be available in Screwfix stores across England.

Chief executive Andrew Livingston said: “We understand how vital apprentices are as the future lifeblood of the trade, but it’s clear from what our customers are telling us that more needs to be done to simplify the process of hiring one.”

Research reveals that over three quarters of tradespeople in the UK would like the government to increase apprenticeship places from 110,000 to 400,000. As well as going to university, they would like to see many school leavers take up apprenticeships as the tradespeople questioned in the study said they had little or no experience taking on apprentices.