Mini's Oxford assembly plant is today welcoming school careers advisers, teachers and Business Secretary Vince Cable as part of the Government-industry initiative to highlight careers in manufacturing for young people.

The Business Secretary and the 40 visitors from schools across the county are being given the chance to see first-hand the broad range of career opportunities Mini manufacturing has to offer, as well as to gain a deeper insight into the wide-ranging apprentice schemes run at the plant.

The Government-supported See Inside Manufacturing initiative underlines the importance of the automotive industry to the UK economy and the range of exciting career opportunities it offers.

Vince Cable said: "The See Inside Manufacturing programme is an important step in giving teachers and careers advisers the opportunity to see, first hand, the essential role that industry plays across the UK to help us achieve the sort of sustainable and balanced economic growth that the country needs.

"The Government is investing in more apprenticeships than ever before. Together with industry we must inspire more young people to see manufacturing and engineering as a viable and exciting career choice.

"We also need to ensure that UK manufacturing can take on its competitors head on and make the next decade one of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial periods in our history."