This year City & Guilds celebrates 10 years of the Princess Royal Training Awards. The Princess Royal Training Awards were created in 2016 to recognise and reward organisations demonstrating exceptional best practice in workplace training and skills development. The Awards are supported by City & Guilds President, HRH The Princess Royal and are now seen as a highly prestigious accolade in learning and development across a multitude of employers.
Applications come from large multinational employers as well as smaller charities and not-for profit organisations demonstrating their impact through learning and development. From household name banks to polar bear expedition experiences, the Princess Royal Training Awards showcase the very best in workplace training across all sectors and sizes of organisations.
Over the last ten years, 415 Princess Royal Training Awards have been awarded to 274 organisations. The combined workforce of the Princess Royal Training Award recipients in 2024 is approximately 3 million people – around 9% of the total UK workforce. The Princess Royal Training Awards alumni report organisational benefits as a result of achieving the standard, which includes, 84% have higher staff retention; 86% higher productivity and; 88% report clearer progression pathways for their workforce.
On 30 April 2025, City & Guilds held their second-ever Skill Share Event at the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths’ Hall in London. This was a space to network and learn from the 200+ organisations who have successfully achieved a Princess Royal Training Award over the past ten years. A keen advocate of skills development, and as her capacity as President, HRH The Princess Royal was also in attendance providing some of her reflections on the importance of skills, education, and learning for all.
In an interview with Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive at City & Guilds, HRH The Princess Royal acknowledged the role of City & Guilds and The Princess Royal Training Awards for highlighting the importance of skills. She noted that the Awards give businesses the confidence to develop training programs that enhance sustainability and boost employee confidence. Her Royal Highness also commended the diverse range of organisations applying and meeting the challenge of revalidation, which helps those employers revalidating also maintain standards, alongside the new entrants.
Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive at City & Guilds, said: “The skills share event has been a great opportunity to bring together our President, HRH The Princess Royal, of whom we are grateful for her commitment to the Princess Royal Training Awards over these past 10 years, along with an impressive alumni to celebrate 10 years of all being advocates for skills and training, sharing expertise and insights from one another within this community. Today has been an inspiring chance to share the impact that skills can have and to learn how to spread even further success. A lot of hard work goes into The Princess Royal Training Awards, and we’re looking forward to more opportunities to bring together our impressive employer network and continue to showcase the meaningful impact of investing in skills development has and the access to opportunity it also provides for employees through these excellent programmes and training initiatives.”
