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North Staffordshire training provider Acacia Training is celebrating a major milestone after training more than 35,000 learners.

The Stoke-on-Trent-based firm has reached its 20th year in business after also training 25,000 apprentices and working with more than 7,000 employers since it was founded as a family-run company in 2000.

The business was set-up by former nurse Victoria Sylvester and her mum Anne Littleton who, as the owners of a care home, became frustrated by the lack of high-quality training to meet their needs.

Today Acacia Training, in Trentham, provides apprenticeships, short courses and government-funded qualifications in health, social care, early years, beauty, dental nursing, business and management.

It has grown from its two founding members to an 80-strong workforce and clients from individual learners, colleges, dental surgeries, care companies, nurseries and beauty salons, to local authorities and the NHS.

It has also trained more than 1,200 people across the world in Mental Health First Aid.

Victoria said: “Mum and I both worked in the care sector and experienced the struggle to recruit and retain quality care staff. We wanted to improve access to high-quality training, so we decided to set up our own company. I never imagined that 20 years later we’d be training more than 3,500 learners each year across a range of sectors.”

She added: “Despite our expansion, we’ve still maintained that family feel and remain passionate about supporting our employees and learners and ensuring that people gain the skills they need to thrive in their chosen career.”