EXPLORER David Hempleman-Adams will explain how determination is the most valuable personal asset in building a successful career when he addresses the region's engineering stars of tomorrow.

The Wiltshire adventurer, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic in an open-basket hot-air balloon, is the speaker at this year's Engineering Employers' Federation (Western) Apprentice of the Year Awards next month.

He will address an audience of engineering and engineering manufacturing apprentices, their families, trainers and employers before presenting awards to the top trainees in the south west.

Frances Chambers, spokeswoman for education and skills matters at EEF (western), and organiser of the event, said: "David's achievements, often in the face of great personal danger, are testimony to his determination to succeed.

"I am sure that hearing from David himself about what it takes to succeed will be an inspiration to the region's apprentices as they embark on their chosen careers in engineering and manufacturing."

This year's awards, being held in Weston-super-Mare, on December 11, have attracted more than 100 entries for apprentices working for companies in Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall and the West of England (formerly Avon).