Five companies were rewarded for their commitment to staff development at the prestigious Eastleigh College Training Ambassador Awards, after being nominated by their own employees. The awards were presented by MP for Romsey and Southampton North, Caroline Nokes, after a mouth-watering 3-course lunch at the College's Red Carpet Restaurant.

The five successful organisations were Seddon Property Services, Southampton Solent University, Office for National Statistics, The West Group Ltd, and RJC Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Ltd. The winners were selected by the College's senior management team and selection criteria included employers who go beyond the call of duty to promote and invest in learning and development, and employers who continuously invest in training.

As a regular employer of Apprentices, the award of Apprentice Employer of the Year was a welcome recognition of the commitment to the programme over a number of years by Seddon Property Services, one of the largest family-owned construction companies in the UK, specialising in painting, decorating and maintenance services

In his nomination for Seddon Property Services, Level 2 Apprentice Jake Ellis said:

"Working at Seddon you meet some brilliant people to work with. I am very grateful that I was given the opportunity to become an apprentice at Seddon, where the team have supported me throughout."

Southampton Solent University, winner of the Training Ambassador Award for Developing People, were nominated by Administration Apprentice Siddiqur Rahman, who said in his nomination:

"Solent have provided ample training opportunities to aid my learning and development in the working environment. Additionally, they have gone far beyond their roles and my expectations to strengthen my learning process."

Jeanette Harrison, Faculty Registrar for Media, Arts and Society, was pleased to receive the award on behalf of the University:

"Our experience has been so positive that we are committing to it for a second year. The whole process has been seamless and stress-free, Eastleigh College gave me plenty of confidence and the quality of applicants was very high."

Winner of the Commitment to Staff Development Award was the Office for National Statistics. Gary Grant, Learning and Development Manager for ONS, was pleased with the impact their staff development programme has had on the organisation:

"ONS enjoys a very good relationship with Eastleigh College and the programme is going from strength to strength. Staff are able to apply what they learn to their everyday work and make a real difference. The programme is helping us to develop the skilled staff we need. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Eastleigh College and working together to help ONS staff develop the skills they need in the modern day Civil Service."

Mrs Nokes commented:

"It's been a wonderful event, to be able to celebrate the contribution made both by the employers and by the Apprentices. I really admire the work Eastleigh College is doing to promote Apprenticeships, and give more young people the chance to find experience and real opportunities in the workplace."

For information on Eastleigh College's range of training solutions, please contact the Workforce Business Development Team on 023 8091 1195 or email btraining@eastleigh.ac.uk