Hospitality firms recognised in the Princess Royal Training Awards

Hospitality businesses have been celebrated for their commitment to investing in people, despite the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.

Five businesses in the sector have received a City & Guilds Group Princess Royal Training Award, in recognition of their outstanding training and development programmes.

Some 43 workplace learning programmes have been recognised across all sectors, with hospitality represented by Dovecote Park, Mitchells & Butlers, Oakman Inns, Red Carnation and Umbrella Training.

Many of the businesses were credited with positively responding to the significant challenges posed in the last six months, including the re-skilling of employees to address organisational gaps.

Red Carnation received its award for its Graduate Management programme, Oakman Inns was recognised for its versatile Oakmanology learning platform, and Umbrella Training was recognised for the development its Umbrella Colleague Academy, which was created to train its staff to deliver new-style apprenticeship standards.

Adele Oxberry, founder and chief executive of Umbrella Training said: "We are incredibly proud of this achievement. The recognition is important as it celebrates the hard work that our team have put into their own professional development and personal growth, as well as the lengths they go to in order to deliver meaningful apprenticeships for our learners and business partners."

Commenting on this year's recipients, Kirstie Donnelly, chief executive of the City & Guilds Group, said: "Congratulations to all the organisations who have achieved the Princess Royal Training Awards standard of excellence this year.

"We know that having a highly skilled workforce will be essential as we start to rebuild our economy post Covid-19, and in increasingly uncertain times making sure we invest in people has never been more important, nor has continuing to showcase the impact it has on organisational success."