SHIPYARD apprentices were praised by a senior government minister as a record number embarked on modern apprenticeships with Ferguson Marine.

Fiona Hyslop MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, spoke to the latest batch of apprentices via video link as they started on the three-year course.

Ferguson's awarded 25 young people with modern apprenticeships this year across a variety of trades including fabrication, welding, mechanical engineering and technical support.

Lewis Emerson, 21, Beth Atkinson, 25, James McEwan, 17, and Marley Weir, 18, shared their hopes and ambitions for their future careers with the cabinet secretary.

Ms Hyslop also congratulated Michael Sinclair, 25 - who started a Ferguson modern apprenticeship in 2012 in fabrication - on achieving his recent first-class honours degree.

She said: "It was great to meet the new apprentices at Ferguson's and hear about their plans for the future.

“The achievements of people like Michael – who earned a first class honours degree in engineering design and manufacturing through Skills Development Scotland’s graduate level apprenticeship scheme – show the success of these schemes and the power of learning while you earn.

"It was a pleasure to present Michael with his degree certificate and I wish all of this year’s intake the best of luck for their careers.”

Michael achieved the top grade of his year and was the first person from Inverclyde to complete the degree.

He said: “Shipbuilding has always been a dream career for me.

"Both my dad and my uncle worked for Ferguson so you could even say it’s in the blood.

"After leaving school at 17, I came straight to Ferguson to start on the modern apprenticeship programme and I’ve been given the opportunity to work in almost every part of the business, from fabrication to structural draughting, while studying at the same time.

"I didn’t think I would be smart enough to complete a degree so to come out as top of the class has been incredible and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve it without the support from Ferguson.

"It was disappointing not to be able to attend a graduation ceremony this year due to Covid-19, but to have the Cabinet Secretary congratulate me was definitely a bonus.”

After completing his degree while simultaneously working full-time, Michael is now a project manager, responsible for the delivery of the Inverlussa workboats.

Ferguson turnaround director Tim Hair said: “Michael is a shining example of the success that can be achieved through our apprenticeship programme and we are all incredibly proud of his achievements.

“Having identified an ageing profile within our established workforce, the apprenticeship programme allows our young recruits to tap into their existing wealth of experience while we can also tailor the learning as part of our work to ensure we have tradespeople to meet the business requirements of the future.

“It was a real coup for our apprentices and Michael to be able to chat to the Cabinet Secretary about their ambitions for the future and we look forward to seeing their careers flourish.”

The shipyard is working in partnership with West College Scotland to offer young people the opportunity to gain an academic understanding of their work in the classroom while combining it with the practical experience of one-to-one mentoring within the shipyard setting.

Mr Hair told the Telegraph: “These are uncertain times for school leavers, so it is more important than ever before to help young people into jobs.

"Our apprenticeship programme not only benefits each individual enrolled but also helps secure the long-term future of the yard by creating a young team of successors capable of taking the business forward.”