A TRAINING company that has assisted thousands of young people step onto their chosen career ladder is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

In four decades, SW Durham Training has helped almost 10,000 people gain qualifications which have opened the door to the world of work.

The company was founded, in 1967, on Aycliffe Industrial Park to provide training facilities for manufacturing and engineering companies, predominantly in the Newton Aycliffe and Darlington area.

Today, it has 400 male and female students, employs 50 people and clients include such big names in business as PepsiCo, Northern Rock, Caterpillar and Cummins.

To celebrate its anniversary, the company caught up with trainees from throughout its 40 years.

Adrian Gardiner, 56, from Darlington, is an integration engineer with US-based Timken Bearings and flies around the globe about 90 times a year on business.

Of SW Durham, he said: "It gave me a fantastic introduction to engineering, not least because we actually helped install the equipment in the training centre with a tremendously knowledgeable set of tutors."

A fellow trainee from the original class of 1967, Colin Jewett, 57, of Spennymoor, trained with the company to become a tool maker and went on to travel the world in the automotive industry.

Mr Jewett, who now works for oil and gas company Tracerco, said: "Although it's a long time ago, I have very fond memories of SW Durham Training.

"It gave me the grounding to achieve far more than I ever dreamt I would, when I was 17."

The company has recently expanded the range of training courses it offers to include business services, distribution and health and safety.

Present trainee Alison Hunter, 19, of Newton Aycliffe, is serving a business administration apprenticeship while working in the sales department at Persimmon Homes.

She said: "I had interviews with a few training providers, but SW Durham impressed me the most and it has given me guidance and help whenever I needed it."

Chief executive Ann Cant, said: "Former trainees are coming to us to help them improve the skills of their workforce, which shows the depth of tradition we have here.

"We continue to expand our range of training and have introduced a new management structure which allows us to be more responsive to the needs of employers in developing our programmes.