A ROYAL seal of approval was given to West Cheshire College’s multi-million-pound campus.

West Cheshire College welcomed HRH the Duke of Kent to its new creative and service industries campus in Ellesmere Port on Friday to present the college’s Employer of the Year 2011 award to Unilever in recognition for its outstanding contribution to training and development.

The college and Unilever have worked together for seven years, with the college acting as the training provider for more than 60 Unilever apprenticeships in the UK.

Sara Mogel, principal at West Cheshire College, said: “It was a great honour to welcome the Duke of Kent to our new campus to present this award.

“This new award marks the important role of employers in developing the skills set of the nation. It is only employers who truly know the skills they need both now and for their future success.”

Stephen Fletcher, group manufacturing excellence director at Unilever who received the award with apprentice Matthew Drew and technical training manager Trevor Cosby, said: “Apprenticeships are hugely beneficial and I believe they should be mandatory – we need more and more apprentices in order to have more and more skills.

“We chose to have a partnership with West Cheshire College as they are local to our Port Sunlight site and they have such a good reputation. We have built a really good relationship with the college and since we started working with them, it has been outstanding what we have achieved in that time.”

Apprentice Matthew Drew, who started his apprenticeships with Unilever in 2009, said: “I came to Unilever for an apprenticeship after doing work experience there while I was at school.

“I am in my fourth and final year of my apprenticeship and when I finish I want to go to university to do project management. In the future I would like to work on the engineering side of project management and I really believe that this apprenticeship will benefit me in my career.”

The duke was welcomed to the college by Sara Mogel and Ellesmere Port and Neston MP Andrew Miller and chairman of governors Martin Seed.

Guests, who included Ellesmere Port mayor Angela Claydon, Cllr Tony Sherlock and the Lord Lieutenant for Cheshire David Briggs, enjoyed a two-course lunch in the college’s restaurant The Dining Room, which was prepared and served by the college’s catering students.

Before departing the VIP guest was given a tour of the new campus, including meeting health and social care students and the college’s new SimMan® – a portable and advanced patient simulator.