Cornish shipyard Pendennis has recruited 12 apprentices after receiving almost 150 applications for the scheme.

The Falmouth-based yacht builders and ship repair business has taken on 140 16 to 19-year-olds as part of its apprenticeship scheme since 1998.

The scheme has won several national awards including the Winner of the Year award at the National Training Awards in 2009.

During the four-year course, apprentices undertake an initial year partially-based at Cornwall College alongside work experience at Pendennis, to gain a thorough understanding of yacht manufacture and maintenance.

The apprentices then spend the next three years at the yard, in their chosen trade, gaining qualifications and experience through on-the-job training, shadowing senior personnel and learning the skills necessary to deliver superyacht projects.

This is the eighth group to start the course, with apprentices now making up one fifth of Pendennis' workforce.

Former apprentice Tim Tregear, now a refit manager, said: "Since qualifying, I have been assigned to several overseas posts in locations such as Barcelona and Palma.

"The Pendennis apprenticeship scheme has provided me with all the tools and skills I could possibly need to go on and further my career within the superyacht industry."

Alongside its general apprenticeship scheme, Pendennis also runs a yacht surface finishing scheme, which is the first of its kind in the UK.