The winners of the NTA Special Awards were announced yesterday at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The NTA is the annual competition which celebrates employers and individuals in the UK for excellence and best practice in training. This year for the first time the competition was organised by UK Skills. Out of 800 entrants, 49 national winners were chosen in November. Yesterday 11 special award winners from those 49 were announced.
The winners of the 14th annual NTA special awards were:
Investor in People category
Small business award: Robinwood Activity Centre
Medium-size enterprise: Fermanagh Training
Large enterprise: National Semiconductor UK
Training for all award: Primebake
NTO sector category
Excellence award: BP Oil UK
Modern Apprenticeships: Clarkson Evans
Lifelong Learning award: NACCO Materials Handling
Learn Direct innovation award: National Pharmaceutical Association
Individual awards winners: Alison Gair, Derek Hitchen
Estelle Morris presented the awards. She emphasised the value of the awards as practical examples of best practice: "These and other award winners help make visible what lifelong learning is about – they are an inspiration to us all. Real people, real achievements... The Special Winners span a diverse range of professions and industries, from an ambassador for the blind and an activity centre for children to animal kennels, a bakery and a petroleum multinational. As a country there is much that we can be proud of it and it is right that we celebrate success. I want to build on this success. There are still far too many young people and adults with few or no basic skills. We are tackling this head-on, with targeted support. It is essential if we are to raise productivity and achieve our economic potential."
Next year there will be another special award to celebrate the Golden Jubilee, for the individual or organisation who has demonstrated exceptionally effective training serving the community.
