BRADFORD-based supermarket Morrisons is offering 20 apprenticeships to over-16s so that they can become fully qualified multi-skilled engineers at the largest fresh food manufacturer in the UK.

Food maintenance engineers work across Morrisons 18 food making sites to maintain and improve modern equipment that is used to cook, slice, mince, pack, weigh and prepare its food products.

During the four year apprenticeship, recruits will gain skills across mechanical and electrical engineering through a mix of studying at college and on-the-job training at Morrisons sites - where they are supported by engineering managers, mentors and work buddies.

When in employment with Morrisons, the engineers will be placed at one of its sites in England - where fresh and cooked meat, bread, fruit and vegetables, fish, prepared food, eggs, and flowers are made.

Morrisons started its engineering apprenticeship scheme in 2016 and currently has 61 students on the programme.

Alison Guest, senior people manager at Morrisons said: “We make half of the food that we sell and employ 9,000 people at eighteen of our own food making sites.

"We need engineers to ensure we produce good quality affordable food. That’s why we’re training and recruiting our own home-grown engineers.”

Anyone over the age of 16 can apply and there is no age limit on joining the scheme.

"However, candidates must have level 6 GCSE maths and level 5 GCSE English.

Applications are open from now until the end of March. To apply candidates should submit their CV online at morrisons.jobs/early-careers/apprentices.

The course itself is to start in August.

Morrisons has 700 trainee apprentices on schemes around its business - in butchery, bakery, retail, manufacturing, logistics and head office.

The Morrisons apprenticeships will operate in England as part of the government’s apprenticeship levy.

Headquartered in Bradford since 1899, Morrisons is a British food retailer with nearly 100,000 staff in 492 stores serving more than 11 million customers every week.

The firm is British farming’s biggest supermarket customer and all Morrisons-branded fresh meat and everything on its butchers’ counters is 100 per cent British.

Morrisons has more than 9,000 trained butchers, bakers, fishmongers, cheesemongers and other skilled in-store specialists making more and more food in its stores.

It also has 18 of its own sites making meat, fruit and veg, fish, bakery and fresh food products and is unique in preparing and making more than half of the fresh food sold in its stores.

Food manufactured in the firm's own sites and stores is highlighted by use of the ‘Morrisons Makes It’ logo and branding.