Mr Burns said Williams was doing a lot to train young people, including running robust apprenticeship and undergraduate schemes. But he urged the Government to improve basic education so school leavers could take advantage of the Williams opportunities on offer. “We are taking people on and giving them the skills they need. What we look for from government is a very strong education system that gives us young people that are very strong in STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths subjects], and we will then give them the specific skills we need for them to grow at our company,” he said.