Figures from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills show 49,000 apprenticeship starts in the region since August 2014. The Government also said 374,200 apprenticeships have been created across the whole country since last August. Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “Small, medium and large employers in the South East are playing a crucial role in creating a modern and competitive workforce that boosts the country’s productivity and prosperity. “I want to work with as many of these businesses as possible to ensure they continue to shape the future of apprenticeships so that we can reach the target of 3 million by 2020.” The Governmemt said the figures also show nationally more than 22,000 higher apprenticeships have started since August 2013, beating the Chancellor’s target of 20,000 starts. Rebecca Henderson is now a GBS project manager at IBM in Hursley, Winchester after joining as an apprentice. She said: “Through my apprenticeship at IBM, not only have I been able to achieve apprentice qualifications but I have furthered my career by gaining two promotions within three years. During my time at IBM to date, I have managed client facing projects and developed skills such as financial and commercial management and audit compliance. “This apprenticeship has been an out of this world experience. I would have never imagined at the age of 22, I could say I’ve delivered projects worth over several million dollars and made a valuable contribution to our clients’ businesses.” The Government said the statistics also show that Whitehall’s efforts to increase the quality of apprenticeships helped drive employer demand higher than previously forecast, with more than 2.3 million apprenticeships created across the country in the last Parliament. The Government added it is committed to supporting a further three million quality apprenticeships by 2020. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage 2) Like our Facebook page 3) Follow us on Twitter 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! Always the first with your local news. Be part of it.