Vocational qualifications are taken by millions of employees each year, many of these on the Train to Gain programme. This helps learners to obtain a work-based qualification, often at no cost and delivered mostly on the company premises.

The college recently signed up over 500 local company employees on to job-related NVQ courses, via Train to Gain, in areas such as team leading, business administration, food manufacturing, engineering and healthcare.

Recruitment and course delivery is an all-year process at the college and these recent successes have given a boost to many local employees and their employers' productivity and prospects.

Colin Mealor, New Product Development Manager, said: "Wigan and Leigh College is one of the largest providers of work-related training in the borough. Each year, our staff deliver part-time and full-time courses to thousands of students aged from 14 upwards, at many levels, from first qualifications up to degrees or postgraduate certificates and diplomas.

"The college is now rapidly expanding its work in engaging with employers, to provide training and development for managers, employees and apprentices.

"The most popular NVQ taken up by employees in the last year has been in warehousing and storage, followed by healthcare, retail, business, construction and engineering, which are all available at Wigan and Leigh College."

Howard Nuttall, production manager at Betafence Ltd, one of the college's many partner companies, said: "We have a very experienced and knowledgeable workforce and we are working with the college to reinforce and recognise their skills with a formal NVQ qualification, as part of the Train to Gain scheme.

"As we recruit new staff, we are going to use this as part of their induction, so for us, it is the ideal training solution."