Four Cobham apprentices travelled up to London in July to attend a House of Commons reception to celebrate the role of apprentices in the aerospace and defence sectors.

Pictured L-R: Kenny Gregory, Amber Cartin, Tyrone Rutherford, Alex Holt. Not in photo, James Coyne Downhill.

Tyrone Rutherford (Mission Systems, Wimborne), Amber Cartin (Antenna Systems, Newmarket), James Coyne Downhill (Aviation Services, Hurn) and Kenny Gregory (Antenna Systems, Marlow) mingled and met with UK Government Ministers (including Secretary of State of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Sajid Javid and Nick Boles, Minister for Skills), Members of Parliament and over ninety apprentices from a wide range of companies.

The reception, which was organised by the ADS trade association, celebrated the 9,000 high quality apprenticeships provided by the UK's aerospace, defence, security and space sector companies, including Cobham. Our apprentices were able to meet their local Member of Parliament and briefed them on Cobham, their apprenticeship experience and their current role and responsibilities.

Tyrone felt that the visit "was a great networking opportunity, I was able to share experiences with other apprentices from multiple industries and on many different and varied career paths. I was fortunate enough to meet Michael Tomlinson, the new MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole who was very interested in our facility in Wimborne and my professional development on the scheme. From this event, it was encouraging to see the high level political support for apprentices and skills in our sectors."