A Company making redundancies is offering more training to all its staff - including those who are leaving.Training has been offered to all 140 employees at Wade Ceramics, in Burslem, and 70 have taken it up.

Twenty of those are people who are being made redundant.

The training hasn't cost the company anything, other than time away from the workplace for the staff taking part, but they say they have done it to help ensure the continued success of the business.

Wade's personnel manager, Marie Evans, said: "Whether they are taking part in essential skills courses or full manufacturing NVQs, it is vital for us to develop our staff. It makes us much more attractive to employees and improves staff retention.

"Even though, unfortunately, we are having to make redundancies, we don't want people to leave here with nothing - if we can offer them training and support we will do so.

"They are likely to be looking for skilled jobs in a similar sector, so it can help immensely to ensure they have skills that employers would be looking for."

The training is funded by £1.8 million from the West Midlands Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Regional European Social Fund.

Glaze sprayer Kath Mellor has just completed a manufacturing NVQ, and is now starting other courses also provided by Axia Solutions, part of the Consortium of Staffordshire Colleges' Employer Training Programme.

Mrs Mellor, aged 48, from Burslem, said: "I decided to do an NVQ in glaze spraying, for the simple reason that if I am ever made redundant and go looking for another job, it will be an advantage to have the qualification.

"We do refresher courses as part of our job, but I am also doing English and maths courses.

"There's a good variety of courses we can do, which is good because the company likes people who are multi-skilled, so it benefits us all.

"I think it is good that people who are being made redundant can go on the courses because it shows the company cares about what happens to them.

"As other potbanks shut down we do start to wonder what will happen to us, so it is reassuring to have these courses to show what we can do."

Mrs Evans added: "The support we get from Axia and the LSC is vital - times are tight and businesses in all sectors are having to watch their spending.

"Luckily, organisations like the LSC are funding projects that can provide training to ensure that skills development can always be treated as a priority."

Sarah Stanway, from the LSC, added: "Wade Ceramics is a brand that has been associated with Staffordshire for a long time and, although times are tight, the business is reacting in the right way - by continuing to develop and train its staff. The commitment the company is showing to training, to up-skilling its workforce and giving them a good platform for the rest of their careers - whether that's with Wade or not - is admirable, and an excellent example."