The Princess Royal Training Awards are the UK and Ireland’s premier awards programme for recognising training excellence.
On Tuesday 2 December, in an awards ceremony at Fishmongers Hall, the City & Guilds Foundation had the honour of recognising 56 outstanding employers who offer leading edge training programmes to their staff. City & Guilds Foundation President, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal presented the award.
This year marks a major milestone – 10 years of the Princess Royal Training Awards! Over the past decade, more than 1,000 training programmes have been assessed, and the ripple effect has been extraordinary – almost 1 million people positively impacted through award-winning initiatives. That’s transformational learning in action.
The 2025 Princess Royal Training Award recipients represent a vibrant mix of sectors – from construction and hospitality to education, heritage crafts, and the public and not-for-profit sectors. What unites them? A shared commitment to creating meaningful change by investing in their people. These organisations are setting the benchmark for training excellence, driving productivity while strengthening society and the economy.
This year’s ceremony was packed with inspiring stories, and saw a record number of renewals, including GSK’s Chemistry CPD Programme and WenLin Chinese School’s Teacher Training and Mentorship Programme, which is empowering part-time Mandarin teachers with tailored classroom development. Many recipients tackled some of the UK and Ireland’s toughest challenges – from skills shortages to an ageing workforce – with innovative solutions that make a real difference.
As Jason Wyatt, Global After Sales and Technical Training Manager from JCB put it:
“We are absolutely delighted to receive this most prestigious training award. The rigor of assessment by City & Guilds Foundation makes the achievement feel even greater.”
And the impact speaks for itself: 86%* of award recipients report higher productivity thanks to their investment in learning and development, and data from 49 award holders shows a collective saving of over £62 million linked to revenue growth from their training programmes. That’s proof that great training pays off.
New this year, to mark its 10th anniversary, the Princess Royal Training Awards also introduced Innovation Commendations for 10 organisations pushing boundaries in learning. Amongst those were Costa Coffee, whose programme uses sensorial analysis, a scientific approach, which uses sight, smell, taste, and touch to help baristas elevate the coffee experience for customers.
Seven organisations were awarded with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Commendations, recognising their commitment to building inclusive workplaces. A more diverse and inclusive workforce can boost business. Research from McKinsey & Company showed that ethnically diverse companies are likely to financially outperform non-diverse companies by 35%, and that gender-diverse companies outperform less diverse companies by 15%.
Gower College Swansea is a prime example, awarded for transforming workforce wellbeing through their menopause training. A significant contributor to staff sickness had been perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms, with data showing in 2021/22 that 89 working days were lost among female staff due to these symptoms. To address this challenge the College launched a successful three-pronged initiative which has reduced absence down to 27 days in the year.
Dame Ann Limb DBE DL, Chair of City & Guilds Foundation, said:
“The Princess Royal Training Awards recognise the critical importance of skills training and the value these skills provide for employers. Having been assessed against rigorous standards, these organisations join our ‘best-in-class’ alumni. Congratulations to all organisations achieving this Royal recognition. We look forward to continuing to celebrate and recognise even more organisations who believe in, and deliver, excellent learning and development programmes.”
