53 Princess Royal Training Awards across UK and Ireland for achieving positive impact through skills development 

• HRH The Princess Royal, President of City and Guilds of London Institute, awards six UK recruitment employers for their outstanding staff education programmes, proven to have had a significant positive impact on their business and their staff.
• A variety of educational programmes in the recruitment sector have been recognised in 2023, for their ability to address skills shortages and increase workplace diversity.
• For the first time this year, the Princess Royal Training Awards have been extended to organisations in Ireland, in recognition of achieving the required standard of excellence.  
• This year, in-person workshops have been held in Belfast, Dublin and Edinburgh, which have been successful in generating applications from each part of the UK and Ireland.

City & Guilds has today announced that 53 training programmes will be recognised by the 2023 Princess Royal Training Awards.

Now in its eighth year, The Princess Royal Training Awards continue to recognise recruitment organisations truly demonstrating exceptional commitment to education, learning and development. With skills shortages across the UK increasing and job vacancies doubling, creating engaging educational 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 inclusion schemes, strong leadership and management programmes and novel and innovative approaches to enhancing sustainability and reducing environment impact.

Pertemps:  This large, independent recruitment organisation, based in Meriden in the West Midlands, receives an Award for upskilling employees to achieve business sustainability. This large, independent recruitment organisation launched the Sales Ignite in-house training programme during the Covid-19 pandemic. Focused on upskilling consultants to increase business, achieve profit and establish a foundation for growth, the programme has led to gross profit targets being exceeded, a 677% return on training investment and a year-on-year sales increase.

Precision Resource Group: This specialist recruitment agency, based in Bristol, receive an award for its learner-centred focus to upskill new recruits. In order to increase market share and meet its ambitious growth target, Precision Resource Group revamped its existing six-week induction programme for new recruits. It established a fully blended six-month onboarding pathway focusing on a learner-centred coaching-based approach. 105 trainees have completed the programme since 2021 and attrition rates have reduced from 27% to 14%, with average time to consultant promotion also reducing from 362 to 201 days.

Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive of City & Guilds said: 

“The Princess Royal Training Awards demonstrate how educational programmes can open up opportunities and attract new talent to the recruitment sector, to help fill significant skills gaps.

“It’s encouraging to see six recruitment organisations recognised this year, 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.” 

Click this link to see the list of recipients and a brief synopsis of the training programmes, or you can find out how to apply for The Princess Royal Training Awards 2024 here.