Thursday 26 February 2015 11:53 am

Here are the 40 wealthiest ex-apprentices

By: Jessica Morris

Share

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on WhatsApp
• Share on Email

Anyone who wants to be rich is typically told to go to university, but apprenticeships can offer another route, with a number of ex-apprentices making it to the top of their trade and becoming multi-millionaires in the process.

As demand for skilled workers rising – to the extent that some can ask employers for higher starting salaries – apprenticeships are becoming an ever-important foothold into today's highly skilled economy.

The coalition government has ramped up the number of apprenticeships available to people in the UK. While it expects 300,000 apprenticeships to be created this financial year, the figure will rise to 400,000 for 2014-15.

Apprenticeships have been touted as a way of getting more young people into employment, but they're open to all ages. Barclays recently announced the launch of a training programme specifically designed for the over-50s.

About one in five university graduates go on to become millionaires (based on their assets, although the figures don't account for household debts) according to the Office for National Statistics. And Where Do CEOs Come From says that a whooping 92 per cent of chief execs hold a degree.

But piling onto the apprenticeship bandwagon is another way of netting a considerable fortune in years to come. JCB chairman, Lord Bamford, topped the list with a net worth of £3.6bn at equipment manufacturer Massey Ferguson.

Here's the full list by with the Association of Accounting Technicians ahead of National Apprenticeship Week (9-13 March) showing other successful people whose apprenticeships put them on the path to success: