Prince Andrew hails pioneering apprenticeship scheme on visit to the Express & Star

The Duke of York spent 90 minutes at our Queen Street head office, meeting the five apprentices who have started working with Britain's biggest regional newspaper as part of the Ladder for the Black Country initiative.

He met with businesses who have pledged to provide placements for young people out of work, and spoke of the need for young people to consider apprenticeships and for businesses to take them on.

Meanwhile, one hundred apprenticeships have been created in just one week by the Ladder for the Black Country campaign, it was announced today.

Goodchilds Estate Agents & Lettings is to take on 17 apprentices – pushing the number of new jobs created into three figures.

The Goodchilds apprentices will work across the firm's 17 branches which include Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, Wednesbury, Walsall, Brownhills, Cannock, Burntwood, Stafford and Lichfield.

The company, based in Queen Square, Wolverhampton, is the sixth firm to back the Ladder for the Black Country since its launch in the Express & Star last week.

The Express & Star has teamed up with expert partners including the Vine Trust, Performance Through People and the Black Country Chamber of Commerce in the campaign to help tackle the region's high levels of youth unemployment.

Goodchilds owner David Warke, who started the company 10 years ago in Bloxwich after leaving the University of Wolverhampton, believes in training his staff on the job.

The 30-year-old said: "We did have some really good quality staff come through apprenticeships but to be honest we have stopped hiring them when we were not getting the right candidates coming through.

"But I know that the Ladder for the Black Country backed by the Express & Star will be able to provide us with a wide pool of talent, so as soon as I saw it I wanted to sign up with the aim of getting an apprentice in each of our 17 branches.

"I am a big believer in apprenticeships and for me it is all about the attitude of those coming through as we can teach the skills they need. Apprenticeships have really come a long wayand are now a route into white collar professions.

"I am really excited to sign up and it is a bonus that we have helped the campaign get to 100."

Since the launch seven days ago, there has been 107 apprenticeship inquiries from young people and 18 expressions of interests from companies. The dedicated Ladder for the Black Country website has also had more than 2,000 hits. On average, 14 new roles have been created each day since the campaign was launched. The Accord Group, Walsall Housing Group, Ikea, the Express & Star and In Touch With Walsall are the five other firms to have already signed up.

Rob Colbourne, managing director of Performance Through People, said: "Achieving our one hundredth vacancy so soon after the launch of the Ladder for the Black Country is excellent news – and goes to show how local employers have embraced the Ladder. There is a mixture of employers in different sectors which bodes well in terms of the diversity of opportunities available for local people seeking employment opportunities. Hopefully this is just the start."

Express & Star deputy editor Diane Davies said: "This is an even better start to the campaign than we imagined. To think we could have 100 young people coming out of the dole queues after just a week is fantastic.

"But we really want other firms to come forward as well and play their part in tackling the terrible youth unemployment problem in the Black Country. And we want potential apprentices to take that first step and get in touch. The Ladder for the Black Country hopes to be a real solution to helping get young people into work."

Official figures show youth unemployment in the Black Country is double the national average, with Wolverhampton having the longest dole queues in England.

Sandwell, Walsall and Dudley also all feature in the top 12 youth unemployment black spots in the country.

Small, medium sized or large firms who want to offer apprenticeships or young people looking for work should click here or call 03332 409699.

For the full selection of Ladder for the Black Country stories and more details on the scheme, click here to visit our campaign news page.

For full coverage of the royal visit, see tomorrow's Express & Star