UNITED UTILITIES is on the lookout for new apprentices.

Sixty-two places will be on offer as part of a range of schemes launched as part of the water company’s annual search for new scientific, technical and customer services recruits.

This will come as welcome new to young people looking for career opportunities, apprentices having previously borne the brunt of the economic crisis triggered by coronavirus, with many furloughed or even thrown off their schemes.

United Utilities’ head of HR and training delivery Louise Higgins said: “We wanted to relaunch our application window as apprenticeship opportunities have seen a steep fall due to the pandemic.

“Now more than ever we want to hear from people who traditionally might not have considered a job with their local water company.”

The company, which employs 5,000 across the North West, says that apprenticeships are critical to ensuring that they have the right people and skills to run the organisation effectively in the future, with many previous apprentices who have come through the scheme now holding important jobs in the organisation’s hierarchy.

Ms Higgins is also keen to encourage applicants from all kinds of different backgrounds.

She said: “We offer an award-winning apprenticeship scheme with many interesting roles and we are a company with no barriers when it comes to getting to the very top.

“Our apprentices are all top-notch, and we would particularly welcome applications from women and those from ethnic and multicultural backgrounds.

“We aim to meet our aspirations of being a diverse workforce to become more representative of the communities we serve.”

This years’ apprentice intake will also be slightly different with, for the first time, 20 of the 62 recruited specifically to train how to deal with leaks.

Ms Higgins said: “Tackling leakage is one of the biggest challenges we face as a company.”

“Over the coming five years we plan to invest £290 million to reduce leakage and our new apprentice Leakage Technicians, will play a pivotal role in meeting the targets we have set.”

For a chance to find out more visit: www.unitedutilities.com/apprenticeships.