A “forward-thinking” Bury St Edmunds brewery has been praised for its apprenticeships by an MP chairing Parliament’s education select committee.

Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow, visited Greene King’s Westgate brewery in the town on Friday to hear about the programme and meet former apprentices who are now in full-time employment.

Marlon Sherman, 47, completed a Level 3 Hospitality, Supervision and Leadership apprenticeship with the Suffolk-based brewer and pub company after joining the business in 2015. He now runs the 45-bed Bell Hotel in Thetford.

Mr Sherman was joined by Jason Taylor, 28, who is one of 12 apprentices now working at The Bell - and the pair shared their stories with Mr Halfon, who spent an hour at the Bury St Edmunds site.

Mr Halfon said: “This is my second visit to Greene King in Bury St Edmunds.

“It’s an extraordinary company investing in successful apprentices.

“They’re providing hundreds of young people with the chance to climb the apprenticeship ladder of opportunity.

“They’re a forward-thinking company transforming the life chances of workers and I think this is an example for many other companies to follow.”

Mr Sherman said: “It was really good to meet Mr Halfon and it was great to have the chance to share how Greene King apprenticeships have benefited me and continue to benefit my team.

“It’s about giving all the guys the tools to do their jobs and enhance their roles.

“I’m a big fan of the training and think it’s beneficial to my team.”

Greg Sage, Greene King’s communications director, said: “We take great pride in all our apprentices and were delighted to welcome Mr Halfon to the brewery to meet Marlon and Jason.

“Our industry-leading apprenticeship programme demonstrates how important it is to develop young people’s talents in the hospitality industry and the support it gives them now and in their future careers.

“With more than 10,000 of our team members having completed an apprenticeship with us since 2011, we look forward to growing that number even further by continuing to create new opportunities for growth and development.”