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With over 160 entries received from organisations all across the UK, competition to take home a British Training Award proved to be very tough. But today, New Possible is delighted to reveal the 2023 Winners!
Powered by employee insight platform, New Possible, the British Training Awards sets out to discover and celebrate the organisations that are truly passionate about L&Ds role in building a thriving workforce. Organisations taking part this year range from start-up innovators to public sector heroes, tech superstars, global titans and everything in between. Irrespective of organisation size, industry or resources, Finalists shared how their initiatives are delivering tangible value for their organisations.
A huge thanks to the British Training Awards 2023 all-star judging panel for reviewing the entries and sharing their expertise:
- Lee Chambers, Director and Chief Psychologist, Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing
- Simon Gibson, Group Head of Learning & Development, Marks & Spencer
- Keith McDougall, Director of Learning & Development, Deliveroo
- Gemma Paterson, Head of People Development Experiences and Innovation, Legal & General
- Prachi Prasad, Global Head of Learning & Development, dunnhumby
- Karen Wilson, Global Director of Talent Development, Booking.com
- Nate Harwood, Founder, New Possible
And so, without any further ado, the full list of Winners and those awarded Highly Commended are:
Training Initiative of the Year (sponsored by Delve): Dishoom (Highly Commended: Foster + Partners)
Best L&D Experience: Totaljobs Group (Highly Commended: Partington's Holiday Centres)
>> The Best L&D Experience category was determined by employee feedback captured via New Possible. <<
Retraining/Upskilling Initiative of the Year: dentsu
Leadership Development Initiative of the Year: The Very Group (Highly Commended: ATS Euromaster / Highly Commended: Medical Protection Society)
Early Careers Initiative of the Year: Medivet (Highly Commended: Southern Water)
Onboarding Initiative of the Year: Dishoom (Highly Commended: Sytner Group)
Innovation of the Year (sponsored by Titus): Let's Talk Talent (Highly Commended: Delve and Candle Digital / Highly Commended: VirtualSpeech)
Start-Up of the Year: Skiller Whale (Highly Commended: True Partnership)
SME of the Year: MAAS Marketing (Highly Commended: The Power Within Training & Development)
Large Organisation of the Year: Bentley
Leader of the Year: Angela Davies, Head of Learning and Development at AJ Bell (Highly Commended: Ayode Duroshola, Learning & Development Partner at Solus Accident Repair Centres & Highly Commended: Shelley Hayward, Head of Talent and Development at The Cumberland Building Society)
Rising Star of the Year: Emma-Louise Taylor, Group Learning & Development Manager at Gi Group Holding
Apprenticeship Provider of the Year: Corndel
Learning Platform of the Year: Titus
Training Provider of the Year: Solvd Together
Financial Services Initiative of the Year: Starling Bank
Hospitality & Leisure Initiative of the Year: Learnmore Network
Public Sector Initiative of the Year: National Audit Office
Nate Harwood, Founder of New Possible and British Training Awards judge said: "The British Training Awards celebrate the inspirational teams and individuals whose transformational approaches to L&D are unlocking the potential of workforces across the UK and beyond. A huge congratulations to all the Winners and Finalists."
Dishoom cooked up an impressive double win, taking home both ‘Training Initiative of the Year’ and ‘Onboarding Initiative of the Year’. The restaurant group implemented a fresh and bold onboarding journey that saw the introduction of a new in-café trainer role and a blended approach to learning. Judges praised an ‘excellent entry’ that showcased ‘collaboration’ and ‘clear business impact’, including a significant drop in new starter turnover.
The sky certainly isn’t the limit for Starling Bank who were awarded ‘Financial Services Company of the Year’. Their ‘Flightpath’ leadership programme for customer service teams was praised by the judges for its ‘unique’ focus on organisational values, rather than ‘number driven performance’. Judges also liked that in-house teams were developing and delivering ‘practical training’ that employees could easily relate to.
Solvd Together clinched the ‘Training Provider of the Year’ title for developing a marketing-style influencer campaign that helped drive product knowledge and advocacy across a national retailer. Judges praised ‘innovative use of social media techniques to engage and drive learning’ and ‘Solvd Together’s approach to impacting business metrics’.
Angela Davies, Head of Learning and Development at AJ Bell, was awarded ‘Leader of the Year’. Judges described Angela as a ‘creator of programmes’ and a ‘role model’, and also valued the ‘powerful testimonials’. Highlights include leading on a talent development programme, a highly rated apprenticeship scheme and a strong focus on DEI.
Winners were revealed at a special celebration event in London, hosted by the comedian Sally-Anne Hayward. The event also featured a panel discussion titled ‘Building a culture of continuous learning’, moderated by Dr. Paul Taylor-Pitt. Panellists included Angela Davies, Karen Wilson and Prachi Prasad.
The British Training Awards is powered by New Possible, the employee insight platform that's helping leaders to unlock the competitive advantage of their people and build healthier businesses. Find out more about our mission or book a demo.
