Leading machine tool manufacturer Yamazaki Mazak has chosen to celebrate this year’s National Apprenticeship Week with an innovative twist.

The company is allowing its young engineering talent to turn the tables on the senior management and interview them on their own careers in the manufacturing industry.

Mazak employs 48 apprentices and has trained more than 200 in recent years across a range of different disciplines, including production, service and business administration.

More than one-third of the current employees at the machine tool manufacturer’s European base in Worcester began their careers as an apprentice, including 53 of whom undertook a Mazak apprenticeship.

In recognition of National Apprentice Week the company invited a selection of its current class of 47 apprentices to put their own questions on a career in engineering to a selection of senior staff, including Alan Mucklow, the managing director UK & Ireland sales division, and Lawrence McCann, general manager for European sales engineering.

The questions were recorded as part of a new video which premiered at the start of the week. Mr Mucklow said: “Anyone who has ever visited our Worcester facilities over the years will have caught several glimpses of eager blue-shirted employees to-ing and fro-ing across the site, often in tow with one or more of our senior engineers.

“Without doubt, our apprentice scheme is one of the cornerstones of our operations here in Worcester.

“As a former apprentice myself, I can offer first-hand ratification as to the solid foundation such a route lays down for you in our industry, and the ceremony in which we present newly qualified apprentices with their first grey shirt of a full-time engineer always fills me with great pride. Speaking on behalf of all of us who took part in the video, it was great fun to connect with the apprentices in such a fun way.

“They asked a lot of intriguing questions, and I hope people enjoy watching the video as much as we did participating in it.”