Well-known consumer brands Siemens and Nissan are among 34 businesses that have successfully bid for £67m of funding from Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to design vocational training programmes.

The Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) sees the successful companies match the BIS monies with their own investment to train employees within their own company and through their supply chain.

This is the first round of the EOP, which is expected to generate 11,000 apprenticeships, 27,000 full-time non-apprenticeship training opportunities and 49,000 other opportunities.

Launching the strategy at Imperial College this morning, business secretary Vince Cable said: “This fund underlines our commitment to strengthening the economy and making sure that the UK workforce has the skills that businesses need.

“On a recent fact-finding trip to Germany I saw first hand how forward-thinking companies were enjoying the benefits of training their supply chain companies, so I am particularly excited that we have received a number of bids to do the same in the UK.”