THE chairman and chief executive of Renishaw spoke in support of the Apprenticeship Awards and said the young people were the ambassadors for industry.
Sir David McMurtry, pictured, told how he started his career as an apprentice before founding the world-famous Wotton-under-Edge engineering company.
"We are taking on 50 new apprentices this year. They are the ambassadors," he told the awards event.
"Go and tell your friends what you have experienced because we want more of you. We want people to go into wealth-creating industries, not wealth consuming industries.
"An apprenticeship is an opportunity to further your career and there are plenty of examples in the room and I congratulate all the apprentices here." Renishaw, which employs 1,800 people in the county, used its expertise in 3D printing to design and create the distinctive Apprenticeship Awards.
The process is called additive manufacturing and Renishaw is the only British company to design and make the industrial machines that "print" parts from metal powder.
