A PLUMBING firm based in Nelson has been named as one of the top 100 apprenticeship employers in the country.

Arthur Padgett Plumbers were given the National Apprenticeship Award by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

It caps a great year for the company, based in Leeds Road, with one of their latest apprentices, Henry Padgett, 18, being named Apprentice of the Year at Burnley College.

Henry is the son of director Edward Padgett and is the fourth generation of the family to become involved in the firm.

Edward said: “We are very pleased to have won the award, it is great recognition for the work we do with apprentices and with Burnley College.

“We’ve got three apprentices at the moment and my son Henry won Apprentice of the Year at Burnley College.

“He is the fourth generation to be involved with the company, my grandfather, my dad, me and my brother Colin and now my son.”

The company have been taking on apprentices ever since they were established in 1924, and Edward said they would continue to do so.

“Apprenticeships are in the news at the moment,” he said, “but this is nothing new for us.

“This is the best way to train for them, one day at Burnley College and maybe a block of leave there, and then the rest training on the job.

“It is about creating the supply to the industry and that is what apprenticeships do. Without that the industry will just wither and die.”

The company currently has 12 staff, including nine who started as apprentices.