Celebrating innovation and accomplishment: Another outstanding year for the Princess Royal Training Awards!
This November, the prestigious Princess Royal Training Awards celebrated 52 organisations who achieved exceptional organisational benefits through their commitment to staff training and development.
These Awards, the ultimate symbol of excellence in learning and development (L&D), attract more and more organisations each year, eager to achieve this royal accolade. As one previous recipient explained:
“It immediately attracted interest from overseas. We work with a lot of American clients and we export a lot of what we do around the world and people noticed it. It is a mark of excellence and I think people recognise that both in the UK and internationally.”
A remarkable honour
This year’s recipients were celebrated at a high-profile ceremony in Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, and were presented with their Awards by HRH The Princess Royal, President of the City and Guilds of London Institute. They join a community of over 600 like-minded professionals who share a commitment to investing in L&D.
Ultimately, however, the true value is in the transformative impact of the Awards and training commitment on organisations. In a recent Alumni survey*, 93% of organisations reported a boost in employee engagement and wellbeing due to investment in learning, 91% noted a greater capacity to showcase the value of skills to their organisation’s social value and 84% expressed enhanced confidence in their organisation’s approach to culture and training.
Excellence in retail
Over the years, organisations large and small from the retail sector have applied for and achieved the prestigious Princess Royal Training Awards and 2024 has been no exception.
Awarded at this year’s ceremony was family-owned opticians, Specsavers, which has embraced apprenticeships as a strategic solution to enhance skills and reduce employee turnover in an industry known for its high attrition rates. Since receiving recognition for its apprenticeship programme in 2018, the organisation has significantly expanded its initiative, now accommodating over 600 apprentices annually. An impressive 98% of apprentices are achieving a distinction and retention of apprentices is at 63%.
Specsavers joins the many retail sector organisations honoured by the Awards over the years, including: Cox London, Halfords Group Plc, Itsu, John Lewis & Partners, Mercedes Benz, Pets At Home, River Island, The Co-op, Waitrose, among many more.
Be part of something exceptional
The 2025 Awards celebrate a decade of honouring training excellence. If you are keen to be recognised for your organisation’s dedicating to training during this special year, why not register your interest?
The Awards are open to all organisations in the UK and Ireland, regardless of size or sector, are free to apply from start to finish, and applicants receive unrivalled support throughout the application process.
For more information, go to the website or contact the Princess Royal Training Awards team at: info@princessroyaltrainingawards.com. The Awards are open from 2 December 2024 until 31 March 2025.
*City & Guilds (2024) Impact Report 2024: The impact of skills on lives.
