I see that the government is advertising for a chief executive for the new National Apprenticeship Service. (Am I the only reader of that ad for whom the words “poisoned chalice” appeared in my mind before “wonderful opportunity”?).

I also read in the business pages a very up-beat article about the fortunes of Skoda, Volkswagen’s Czech subsidiary. The executives at Skoda must be fed up with articles that say, however positively, what a long way it’s come since the cars were the butt of countless jokes - such as “Why does a Skoda have a heated rear window? So you can keep your hands warm when you’re pushing it”. (Sorry, Skoda: couldn’t resist).

And yet the article lavished praise on both Skoda, for the quality of its cars, and Volkswagen, for the quality of its multi-brand strategy, for the Volkswagen Group is now home to four strong car brands: Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat.

Which brought me back to apprenticeships. “Apprenticeship” is a great brand which is why this government is keen on them, as was John Major’s (which, in fact, deserves the credit for bringing them back). But it’s a brand which works far better in some fields than others. The gas industry, for example, has embraced apprenticeships enthusiastically, but coverage across the service sector, which has never taken to the branding, is thin. So maybe ministers need to take a leaf out of Volkswagen’s book and create another brand or two to get the much greater numbers they want to see?