IT Training Awards 2005 winners announced
The Institute's annual IT Training Awards for 2005 were presented at a sumptuous gala dinner held at The Dorchester in London.
A capacity audience of over 400 people attended this year's IT Training awards, held at The Dorchester, in Park Lane, London, on 3rd February.
The event also included an address by Beth Cordingly, better known as Kerry Young in the ITV series The Bill, who spoke about her support of the ChildLine charity for children in trouble or danger, for which the Institute raised a record £15,575 in its annual Charity Auction, in aid of ChildLine.
The blue riband award of Training Company of the Year was won by QA which was a popular choice with the packed audience.
Belfast City Council scooped the Training Department of the Year award, and this was a record second win for the Belfast City Council training team.
Stuart Lawson, an IT trainer with the gaming company The Gala Group won the accolade of Trainer of the Year and Creative Learning Media took the prestigious award of e-Learning Project of the Year.
The Institute introduced two new awards for 2005 - Freelance Trainer of the Year and Learning Centre of the Year. Huw Griffiths won the Gold Award for the freelance trainer category and Centrica's Simon Dyer Learning Centre took the award for Learning Centre of the Year.
The training team from the BBC won the Internal Training Project of the Year award for its successful 'Hothouse Project' and afiniti and Network Rail took the External Training Project of the Year.
The training manager of Atos Origin, Marie-Pierre Gouaux, was presented with the Training Manager of the Year and Siemens Communications scooped the Staff Development Programme of the Year.
Colin Steed, addressing the audience at the awards ceremony, said:
"The annual IT Training Awards honour those individuals and organisations who really shone in the past year and we are here to celebrate their achievements tonight.
"We must not underestimate the importance of giving national recognition to the skills and achievements that are driving best practice in our industry. Such initiatives are representative of a sector that is fast maturing to accomplish specific, relevant business results through the appropriate use of standards-driven IT training and development.
"The solutions and projects detailed in the award entries are enabling organisations throughout the country to deliver knowledge and learning faster and more efficiently - some in ways that were not possible before.
"Recent economic times have been tough for everyone in IT departments, and particularly for those working for IT training providers. But, once again, the quality of the entries has been higher than ever, which demonstrates that the industry is pushing forward and creating higher quality, measurable, business-aligned learning solutions.
"The good news is that the indicators for this year appear to be more positive. Approval for new training projects is beginning to come through and the recruitment of IT staff is rising. However, no matter what the market conditions, quality and excellence remain key to success in this industry.
"I would like to congratulate everyone who entered the awards, everyone who has been shortlisted, and of course those who have won these prestigious awards.
"We should all aspire to the outstanding achievements that have been made by everyone who collects an award tonight."
The winner of the Colin Corder Award for outstanding services to the IT training industry was a hugely popular choice judging by the standing ovation received by the winner David Pardo.
In his speech announcing the Colin Corder award, Colin Steed related Pardo's 30-years' experience of service to the industry.
"David Pardo has been an influential figure in the UK IT training industry for over 30 years, having been managing director of two large IT training providers, as well as managing director of the leading IT training research firm in Europe.
"He joined Altergo in 1978 as a lecturer/consultant and was appointed General Manager in 1982 where he quickly established the company as a market leader in IBM training.
"In 1985 he joined Learning Tree International as Director of Course Operations - Europe and was appointed Managing Director in 1987. During this time he guided the company to become one of the best known and most successful IT training providers - with revenues exceeding £30m.
"After leaving Learning Tree in 1998, he set up his own training consultancy, and was an influential member of the consulting team in helping to set up the Government's 'BugBuster' programme, which was concerned with the Y2k problem.
"In more recent times, he was influential in setting up the IT Skills Research Programme and is now joint managing director of the organisation. IT Skills Research is the major source of IT training market intelligence and, backed by Haymarket Publications, is now recognised as an influential commentator on the industry and the prime source of market data.
"Apart from all this, he is a regular speaker on the major IT training conferences, is a Fellow of the Institute of IT Training, a Fellow of the CIPD, and has been a leading figure on the judging panel for the IT Training Awards for many years.
"His personal attributes go before him, but are best described by a quote from a leading figure in the IT training industry which said that Pardo 'is a encyclopaedia of information on IT training. He is always helpful and willing to do that something extra for you, and he is one of a rare breed of people that you can honestly call a true gentleman, in everything he does.'"
The event was sponsored by Interquad Learning and was hosted by ITV Breakfast presenter Lucy Alexander.
The 2006 IT Training Awards, celebrating the Institute's 10th anniversary, takes place on 2 February 2006.
FULL RESULTS
Internal Training Project of the Year
Sponsored by Learning & Skills Council
• BBC Training & Development - Gold
• Irwin Mitchell Solicitors - Silver
• News International - Bronze
External Training Project of the Year
Sponsored by Watsonia Publishing
• afiniti & Network Rail - Gold
• Azlan Training & Cisco - Silver
• Parity & Department for Employment & Learning - Bronze
E-Learning Project of the Year
Sponsored by Learndirect
• Creative Learning Media - Gold
• Whitbread & Leadent - Silver
• T-Mobile & BrightWave - Bronze
Staff Development Programme of the Year
Sponsored by Pitman Training
• Siemens Communications - Gold
• Fujitsu - Customer Services Training Department - Silver
• Belfast City Council - Bronze
Learning Centre of the Year
Sponsored by University of Nottingham
• Centrica - Simon Nyland Centre - Gold
• Scottish Prison Service College - Silver
Training Manager of the Year
Sponsored by Parity
• Marie-Pierre Gouaux - ATOS Origin - Gold
• Richard Malam - Centrica ICT Education & Training - Silver
• O'Bryan Grandison - West Midlands Police - Bronze
Freelance Trainer of the Year
Sponsored by Broadskill
• Huw Griffiths - Gold
• Doune Sinclair - Silver
Trainer of the Year
Sponsored by OCR
• Stuart Lawson - Gala Group - Gold
• Nicky Stone - Happy Computers - Silver
• Emma Griffiths - Parity - Bronze
Training Department of the Year
Sponsored by Spring
• Belfast City Council - Gold
• News International - Silver
• Centrica ICT Education and Training - Bronze
Training Company of the Year
Sponsored by HP
• QA - Gold
• Spring IT Training - Silver
• Parity Training - Bronze
Colin Corder Award
David Pardo