Chesterfield Champion wins accolade in National Apprenticeship Awards
Apprentices and employers from across the country joined together on Thursday to celebrate their successes during Learning Unlimited’s very first ever National Apprenticeship Awards.
During a glittering ceremony at Pond’s Forge in Sheffield, awards were presented to businesses and individuals in recognition of their dedication, work and commitment to developing a skilled workforce though apprenticeships.
TV personality and journalist, Helen Fospero, presented the awards to those who had been chosen from the hundreds of nominations received from peers and managers.
The team at Chesterfield-based Heathcotes Group received national recognition when they were awarded the Large Employer of the Year title for demonstrating their commitment to developing apprentices in their company.
Heathcotes’ Managing Director, Brendan Kelly, said: “Winning this award is a fantastic achievement for all of the people involved in training and apprenticeships at Heathcotes. Health and social care is currently a very challenging sector and bringing on talented and dedicated people through apprenticeships is vital to achieve a sustainable model for high quality care. Heathcotes and our learning partners, the Chesterfield College Group, have developed a work-based learning programme which has proved to be exceptionally successful in creating employment and developing careers, both locally and nationally. We have achieved almost 600 apprenticeship starts over the past five years, with an 82% increase in apprenticeship starts between 2013/14 and 2017/18.”
Mark Bennington, Vice Principal Commercial Services and Enterprise at the Chesterfield College Group, said: “The Learning Unlimited National Apprenticeship Awards provided us with the opportunity to recognise the value of apprenticeships and the employers who are invested in the apprenticeship model.”
“Each award presented during the evening represented the positive impact on each and every one of those individuals and businesses. We look forward to working with our apprentices and businesses over the coming year and look forward to next year’s Apprenticeship Awards!”
And the rest of the winners were:
Newcomer of the Year
Winner: Bumbles Day Nursery
Finalists: Tameside Radio and Briggs of Burton
Investment in Apprentices
Winner: Read Roper Read
Finalists: MVIS, Accrofab and Alphaweld.
Partner of the Year
Winner: Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union
Finalists: Slack and Parr, NTAR and Tulip Ltd.
Small Employer of the Year
Winner: Wilson Howe.
Finalists: Sherwood Electronics and DOR Electrical
Medium Employer of the Year
Winner: Graphoidal Developments Ltd
Finalists: Ashgate Hospicecare and Refresco.
Large Employer of the Year
Winner: Heathcotes.
Finalists: Bombardier and Tarmac.
Employer of the Year
Winner: Derbyshire Constabulary
Outstanding Contribution to Delivery
Winner: Stef Monks
Finalists: Jennifer Dyke, Helen Payne, Mark Dixon, Fliss Shaw, Jonathan Price, Martin Thomas, James Lund, Wendy Taylor, and Kate Barker.
Chesterfield College Group’s Principal’s Award
Winner: Stef Monks
Intermediate Apprentice of the Year
Winner: Tillie Woolliscroft (MVIS)
Finalists: Jessie Lambkin (David Mason Design), and Jake Banton (Bombardier).
Advanced Apprentice of the Year
Winner: Luke Bunting (Bombardier)
Finalists: George Sheldon (MVIS), and Polly Oakes (Fifteen).
Higher Apprentice of the Year –
Winnner: James Bateman (Derbyshire Constabulary).
Finalists: James Marshall (Royal Mail), and Cameron Landa (Bombardier).
Dedication to Apprenticeship –
Winner: Amy Flint (Blackwell Primary School).
Finalists: Liam Quinby (Bombardier), and Sian Jones (Royal Mail)
Apprentice of the Year
Winner: Kyle Stewart (DEB Chemicals)
Chesterfield’s Heathcotes Group were awarded the Large Employer of the Year title.
