IF 2005 is remembered for anything it will hopefully be the year all the hot air talked about the skills gap was turned into action.

Modern apprenticeships were introduced a decade ago but have struggled to catch on, seemingly unloved by government and private companies alike.

Demand from young people is now said to be running at three times the number of opportunities available. The shortfall is a scandal, and the UK government and Assembly (through ELWa) has braced itself to boost opportunities among employers to match demand.

The schemes available cover 80 industry sectors and range from building and manufacturing to hairdressing and call centre operation.

For employees the benefits are obvious, for firms it's an opportunity to train their way out of the skills gap, raising staff morale and improving staff retention.

One Newport firm demonstrating the way forward is civil engineering manufacturer Asset International. Director Simon Thomas and production manager Graham Bennett both used apprenticeships as a step up the career ladder.

And both possess a vigorous commitment to training today's raw recruits.

One of them, Ben Hillman, was left in no doubt that taking up an apprenticeship was the way to get ahead.

Now aged 23, Mr Hillman started at Asset with little idea about his future career, but he did embrace the chance to sign up as a modern apprentice electrical engineer.

He said: "After a while I became really interested in electrical engineering, and having the chance to follow in the footsteps of senior people like Simon and Graham is great."

Mr Thomas started at Asset as an apprentice 21 years ago. He said: "Engin-eering and manufacturing are still careers where you can start at the bottom and work your way to the top provided you get the right training.

"From the firm's point of view, by continually investing in our staff and encouraging them to gain qualifications we can improve our technical and financial performance and offer clients higher levels of service."

Mr Bennett started working at Asset as an apprentice 13 years ago.

He completed an NVQ level three in electrical engineering through Newport and Dis-trict Group Training Assoc-iation. More recently he obtained a diploma in quality assurance and is now looking to study the subject at degree level.