In advance of the National Apprenticeship Week taking place from 4-8 March, Porton Biopharma (PBL) is excited to announce that it has recruited its first apprentice, Will Tucker.

Joining the company as a full-time employee from the end of February he’ll be enrolled on a five-year programme leading to a BSC in applied biology.

Around 80% of Will’s time will be spent working among PBL’s Development group learning a range of range of skills from basic laboratory techniques to growing micro-organisms and purifying the active ingredients, with the remaining 20% on studies.

As PBL develops as an employer, it wants to roll out its programme and intends to recruit other apprenticeships in the future across science and engineering.

PBL aims to provide a challenging and stimulating pathway for talent development with apprentices working in some of its state-of-the-art facilities producing life-saving biopharmaceutical products and analysing them using some of the latest methods and advanced scientific equipment.

Commenting on the appointment, managing director of PBL Dr Roger Hinton said: “We offer a warm welcome to Will and trust he’ll be a trailblazer for future talent that we are keen to promote.”