Bentley named as one of the UK's best employers, for the third year running.

• UK Top Employer award for third consecutive year
• “Dedication to personal and professional development”
• Company prepares for annual Apprentice Open Day on 22 March

Bentley Motors has been named as one of Britain’s Top Employers for the third year running by the Top Employers Institute. Bentley’s dedication to the personal development, working environment and employee culture of the 3,700 colleagues who work at the Crewe headquarters was particularly praised.

Dr. Ariane Reinhart, Member of the Board for Human Resources, said: “We are proud that our efforts to cultivate a talented, diverse and engaged workforce have been recognised. It’s not only a testament to our dedication to personal and professional development, but also to our skilled and committed colleagues.”

Bentley’s nationally recognised apprenticeship programme, which develops new talent within the business, was a strong contributing factor in the Top Employers’ assessment of employee development opportunities. 62 apprentices are currently employed at Bentley, working in a variety of areas including Engineering, Marketing, Communications, Manufacturing and Human Resources, all of which combine on the job training with academic qualifications.

Bentley’s annual Apprentice Open Day will be held on Saturday 22 March at its headquarters in Crewe, where attendees are invited to speak to current Apprentices and learn more about the scheme and its benefits.

Opportunities to develop are not limited to new recruits. A key focus within Bentley is growing the talent that exists in current employees and maximising potential through development opportunities and clear career pathways. This has led to the business already being accredited as an Investor in People to silver standard.

The award closely follows Bentley’s record sales year in 2013, in which 10,120 cars were delivered, a 19% increase on 2012 and the highest number ever in the company’s 95-year history, firmly underlining its position as the number one luxury car brand in the world.

MP supports Vauxhall heritage

Luton North MP Kelvin Hopkins pledged his support for the Vauxhall Heritage Centre on June 4th when he took the Luton-based Collection’s Astra GTE up to the palace of Westminster. The white Astra GTE, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, caused quite a stir and provided stark relief from the stream of ministerial Jaguars and Toyota Prius.

Kelvin took the Astra to London to raise the profile of the heritage centre, which houses priceless vehicles and artifacts dating back over the entire 110-year history of Vauxhall motors.

‘Nowhere is Luton’s proud tradition as a motor vehicle manufacturing town more clearly represented than at the heritage centre,’ he said, ‘I believe its continuing role in educating youngsters and celebrating Vauxhall in Luton is an essential one.’

On the evening of the 4th Kelvin spoke at the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group annual meeting, once again raising the profile of the UK’s classic vehicles industry and Vauxhall in particular. ‘The classic vehicle industry is worth over £4billion to the UK economy and helps preserve vital engineering skills. It introduces young people to concepts and experiences that they can have nowhere else and, I believe, helps inspire the next generation of engineers and technicians. It is extremely important to the UK’s manufacturing future.’ The centre, which is based on Park Street in Luton, will host an open day on August 18th between 10am and 4pm.