HRH The Princess Royal, President of the City and Guilds of London Institute awards six employers in North-west England for their outstanding training and skills development programmes, proven to have had a significant positive impact on their organisation and people.
15Â August 2023:Â City & Guilds has today announced that 53 training programmes are being recognised by the 2023 Princess Royal Training Awards.
Now in its eighth year, The Princess Royal Training Awards continue to recognise organisations in North-west England, truly demonstrating exceptional commitment to learning and development. With skills shortages across the UK increasing and job vacancies doubling, creating engaging learning programmes to grow and retain new and existing talent has never been more crucial.
From small not-for-profit organisations to large multinational employers, the recipients of the award continue to be refreshingly diverse and increasingly innovative in their approach to learning and development each year. Some strong themes have emerged from the programmes being awarded this year, including enhanced diversity, equity and diversity schemes, strong management and leadership training schemes, novel ways of addressing sustainability and climate change, and access schemes designed to create  new talent pipelines and career pathways.
Gravitas Recruitment: this Manchester-based, global specialist recruitment agency, receives an Award for creating a talent pipeline to support their trainees’ progression. The company specialises in connecting niche talent with employers. After initially receiving an Award in 2017, the business reapplied for revalidation this year. Their application was successful because the company has continued to invest in its ‘Senior Development Consultant’ programme, mentoring trainee consultants to progress to senior consultant level and providing a future talent pipeline to management roles: 70 trainees have completed the programme with 62% remaining with the business and the average time to promotion has halved in the past three years.
IPG Health Medical Communications: this Macclesfield, Cheshire-based, medical communications agency, receives an Award for delivering sustainable training to new recruits in the Pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector. IPG Health Medical Communications introduced a ‘Future Learners and Leaders’ programme that equips their trainees with tailored skills and experience. 102 Associates have since completed the training with 55 of these subsequently gaining promotion. One hundred per cent of associates reported that the programme met their expectations.
Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive of City & Guilds said: “The Princess Royal Training Awards demonstrate how training and development can create opportunities and attract new talent to industries to the north-west of England, where there are significant skills gaps and labour shortages.
“It’s encouraging to see six organisations in the north-west gaining recognition, with such a diverse range of employers continuing to apply for a Princess Royal Training Award. Despite the obvious challenges in recent years, these employers have shown unwavering dedication to nurturing their workforce through outstanding training and skills development, resulting in a lasting positive impact.
“As skills shortages and job vacancies rise, investing in training and development can help to increase productivity and harness and retain talent for future growth. Not only is this good for business and the workforce – it is also beneficial for wider society and contributes to thriving local economies. These organisations exemplify the transformative power of investing in people, and we are honoured to celebrate their accomplishments.”
For a full list of this year’s recipients and their training programmes please see the 2023 recipients page or you can find out how to apply for The Princess Royal Training Awards 2024 here.
