THE theme for the 12th annual National Apprenticeship Week is: “Blaze a Trail” and the students at Plumpton College are doing just that.

The college is launching a range of new partnerships with employers both locally and internationally.

Apprentices will have opportunities to work ‘on the job’ with land-based sector giants including idverde, Bookers and the National Trust.

Through the partnership with ideverde, Plumpton College will be providing a range of horticulture apprenticeships.

Ideverde is Europe’s largest provider of grounds maintenance services and landscape construction projects, with an annual turnover of £500m and 5,500 colleagues operating throughout the UK, France, and the Netherlands.

Plumpton Horticulture team will be working with the apprentices to train them to offer a holistic range of services to support the creation, maintenance and management of landscapes throughout the UK, working with both public and private sector clients to deliver bespoke solutions for each project’s unique challenges.

Andrea Gomm, HR Director at ideverde, said: “I am immensely proud of the opportunities we create for colleagues to flourish and develop their careers in idverde, creating and maintaining landscapes.”

Kate Nicoll, National Specialist for Garden Training at the National Trust, said: “The National Trust is very excited to be offering 13 apprenticeships in its gardens around the country, using Plumpton College as its training provider.

“Plumpton seems a particularly good match for us, with its emphasis on traditional horticultural skills, within a beautiful rural setting.

“The exciting new restoration project in the Walled Garden at Stanmer Park, is an extra bonus for apprentices wanting to learn about productive gardening in a heritage setting.

“We look forward to a fruitful partnership in bringing on our next generation of skilled gardeners.”