On 15 December, we celebrated the innovative training and development successes of the 43 recipients who achieved a Princess Royal Training Award in 2020. By necessity the ceremony was a little different this year. Whilst it needed to take place virtually rather than at St James’ Palace, the champagne, sent to recipients in advance, was ready to be popped. CEO Kirstie Donnelly MBE and Chairman Sir John Armitt CBE were also on hand to congratulate the 39 organisations – who between then received 43 Awards – for showcasing their exceptional training, learning and development programmes and more importantly how these made a real impact to their businesses and to their people.
130 guests attended the event including recipients along with their colleagues and learners, Award assessors and City & Guilds staff members. A highlight of our Award Ceremonies is recipients receiving their Award from HRH The Princess Royal. We were delighted therefore that Princess Anne took the time to pre-record a video message to share with the worthy winners on the day. She congratulated all of the organisations that invested in submitting such high quality applications during a year like no other and said that she hoped to be able to host a future celebration in person, when it was safe to do so.
Kirstie Donnelly spoke to three recipients from very different organisations – Merthyr Tydfil College, Royal Mail and Bouygues – to hear more about how they’ve used training successfully including to initiate culture change, upskill a sales team and develop in-house talent.
“It’s a huge testimony to the importance, benefits and impact of employers continuing to invest in the training and development of their people, their culture and their environment, in order to combat and grow back out of the crisis we have witnessed this year. The fact that you found the capacity to apply for an Award and apply so effectively is a real tribute to you all.”
Kirstie Donnelly, CEO, City & Guilds
Recipients shared some of their own Award stories in break-out groups and we heard about some of the diverse programmes represented from addressing skills shortages and improving sales and customer service offers through to embedding learning cultures and best-in-class apprenticeships. The networking doesn’t stop here though: all Award recipients are invited to join the Awards Alumni, a group of over 200 organisations working together and sharing best practice, and from which many new partnerships and business initiatives are formed.
“Loved the breakout rooms – this was the most engaging virtual award ceremony I have been to yet, so thank you for organising this.”
2020 Ceremony Guest
All Award recipients received a Princess Royal Training Award plaque and certificate and we look forward to continuing working with them through our Alumni network.
Do you know of any organisations who are using training, learning or development to improve their business bottom line and develop their people? The Awards are free to enter and are now open for applications until 31 March 2021.
The Princess Royal Training Awards is actively seeking to increase ethnic diversity in its networks of applicants and alumni and is partnering with Career Nuggets to achieve its aim. The social enterprise’ s mission is to bridge the career progression gap in the BME community in the UK. We are also particularly interested to encourage applications this year from organisations committed to investing in diversity and inclusion through their training and learning initiatives.
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