The Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network is an employer-led body in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Its remit is to encourage more employers to become involved in apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

s in England.

The Network is the successor body to the Apprenticeship Task Force established by the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

. The Chairman is Sir Roy Gardner, Chairman of Compass Group

Compass Group

Compass Group plc is a global contract foodservice and support services company headquartered near London, United Kingdom. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world and has operations in over 50 countries...

 Plc. Members include ex-apprentice Mike Turner

Mike Turner

Michael R. Turner is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.The district covers most of the city of Dayton and includes most of Montgomery County, much of Warren County, and is home to all of Highland and Clinton Counties.-Early life, education...

 CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

 Chairman of Babcock International and companies as diverse as Tesco, British Gas, Bentley Motors and Shell.

The Coalition aspiration for 50,000 extra apprenticeships in 2011 continues to support the Network's work.

The Network presents an Honorary Apprenticeship Award annually to prominent people who have served an Apprenticeship and/or have had significant involvement in work based learning or achieved success via social enterprise or their profession. These Honoraries in turn then act as role models for young people and other employers.

In June 2007, at 11 Downing Street, Honorary Apprenticeships were awarded to:

Gary Rhodes

Gary Rhodes

Gary Rhodes OBE is an English restaurateur, cookery writer, and chef, known for his love of British cuisine and distinctive spiked hair style ....

 OBE, Alan Titchmarsh

Alan Titchmarsh

Alan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE DL is an English gardener, broadcaster and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a garden journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes...

 MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

, Charles Worthington MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

, and Kamal Basran

Recipients in 2009, at an event at 10 Downing Street, were, Sir

Sir

Sir is an honorific used as a title , or as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures...

 Alex Ferguson

Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

, CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

,Sir John Cassels CB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, Mike Turner

Mike Turner

Michael R. Turner is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party.The district covers most of the city of Dayton and includes most of Montgomery County, much of Warren County, and is home to all of Highland and Clinton Counties.-Early life, education...

 CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

. Brian Turner

Brian Turner

Brian Turner may refer to:* Brian Turner * Brian Turner and field hockey representative* Brian Turner , drummer for the Seattle-based band Schoolyard Heroes* Brian Turner , British celebrity chef...

 CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

 and Margaret Gildea OBE

In 2011, recipient Sir Alan Jones received his award during the National Apprenticeship Service Awards in June.