My first day in the shipyards and how it shaped my life, by Sir Alex Ferguson

SIR Alex Ferguson, who began his working life as a Glasgow shipyard trainee, has called for more apprenticeships to be made available to young people to help tackle unemployment.

The Manchester United manager addressed a meeting of the Unite union at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester yesterday.

Sir Alex, who went on to become a union shop steward and is a long-standing supporter of the Labour Party, highlighted the importance of apprenticeships, training and funding to youngsters.

He spoke about the importance of learning from older workers, as he did when he was training to be a tool-maker.

He said: “It’s amazing what can happen when you give young people an opportunity. They thrive on it, they don’t let you down.”

Sir Alex recalled his first day in the shipyard, aged 18.

He said: “What I learnt from the older guys in the shop, that was an education.

“That education from working with older people is phenomenal. That was a great period of my life, a great period, and it does shape you.”

He also spoke of his own apprentices, footballers such as David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

He said: “I don’t just get quality from all the skills we’ve taught them, I get loyalty. I get incredible loyalty out of that.”

Sir Alex said it was only when people had the opportunity to have an apprenticeship that they realised the long-term benefits.

Tony Burke, the assistant general secretary for manufacturing at Unite, who also spoke at the event, said: “It is very apt that Sir Alex, whose commitment to developing young talented people into international footballing stars is universally admired, should be speaking on the importance of bringing young people forward through skilled apprenticeships and top-quality training.”

Mr Burke said Unite believed that, even in a “grim” economic climate, manufacturing and science-based companies needed to take on apprentices and train their workforce.

He added: “Apprenticeships today will translate into the skilled workforce of tomorrow.

“That should be our goal for the future viability of British manufacturing and our science-based industries.”

Alex Salmond’s promise of 25,000 modern apprenticeships was a central tenet of his election manifesto.

The Modern Apprenticeships initiative combines vocational training courses with work placements. However, it emerged last month that hundreds of youngsters had been forced to leave their apprenticeships because of the downturn in the economy.

Figures provided by Skills Development Scotland, the publicly funded body which administers Modern Apprenticeships, said a total of 1,915 young people were made redundant since June 2009, with 856 laid off in 2010-2011.

Last month, a Scottish Construction Confidence report said 56 per cent of businesses interviewed said they would take on fewer apprentices next year, with many not recruiting any.