Forth Valley College are celebrating winning the prestigious ‘Approved Training Provider of the Year’ award at the engineering construction industry’s (ECI) prize-giving ceremony, held at the Cutty Sark in London on Thursday 2 November.
The 11th ECI Training and Development Awards, organised by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), brought together industry leaders, influencers and policymakers, as well as the rising stars of tomorrow, at a ceremony hosted by engineer, broadcaster, teacher and STEM advocate, Kate Bellingham.
Inspired by the rich maritime history of the Cutty Sark and with the ceremony taking place beneath its world-famous hull, the theme of this year’s event was about embarking on journeys.
FVC won their prize as result of a number of training initiatives. Judges agreed that the College had achieved outstanding success in its delivery of the Oil and Gas Technical Apprentice Programme (OGTAP) over the past 12 years and boasted an exceptional 100% transition rate for participants in the ECITB Scholarship programme into employment.
It was also shown that FVC’s flexible ‘Train the Painter’ initiative, developed in conjunction with esteemed industry partners, underscores the College’s unwavering commitment to providing customised training solutions. FVC’s dedication to nurturing a proficient, industry-prepared workforce through innovation and close collaboration with ECITB also earned it recognition at the awards and contributed to the win.
Principal and Chief Executive Kenny MacInnes said: “I am absolutely delighted and so proud to lead an organisation that has delivered such excellent training. I myself started as an apprentice, so to receive this award is full circle for me. To be principal of an organisation that’s been recognised for delivering such excellent training is just overwhelming.
“We’ve had such a long relationship with the ECITB. It’s fantastic to be recognised among our peers for delivering excellence working in close partnership for so long.”
Speaking at his first ECI Awards since joining the ECITB, Chief Executive Andrew Hockey stressed that industry’s most valuable assets are its people, both those at the start of their journeys like the scholars, apprentices and graduates honoured last night and those present “whose journeys have paved the way for those that follow”.
He said: “I would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists who are great examples of the success stories from across industry over the past year. They exemplify the talent, innovation, resilience and endeavour that our industry holds in such high regard, setting standards to which we all aspire.
“The quality of nominations this year reflects the strength of talent in the industry and the breadth of attendees last night shows that these awards are one of the biggest events in the engineering construction calendar.
“It was wonderful to be in the same room to celebrate all that is great about training and development in our industry with so many partners and friends representing organisations from across the length and breadth of the UK and internationally. I’d like to extend a huge thank you to all our judges, who had the monumental task of choosing a winner in each category.”