Cogent: UK nuclear skills awards celebrate UK talent – Katie Maxwell scoops top spot

The 12th March 2009 saw the inaugural UK Nuclear Skills Award Ceremony Dinner held by The National Skills Academy for Nuclear and Cogent Sector Skills Council.

This was a high profile event in Manchester attended by nearly 300 nuclear employer, employees and representatives from the training and education sector. The event provided a unique opportunity for key figures in the nuclear industry to join together to celebrate success in workforce development through a number of key awards. These included The Skills Academy’s UK-wide Apprenticeship and Foundation Degree/HND/HNC Student Awards and Cogent’s Outstanding Leadership in Skills Award.

The event featured a key note speech from Jamie Reed MP, who stressed the importance of these awards to the sector and an inspirational and motivational after dinner speech from Steve Williams OBE (Double Gold Olympic Champion rower).

Award Winners

Philip Dixon, employed by Sellafield Ltd won the Most Promising Foundation Degree Student of the Year. Philip is currently studying his Foundation Degree with UCLan.
Michael Miller, employed by Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), won the Foundation Degree/HNC/HND Student of the Year. Michael is completed his Foundation Degree with North Highland College.
Katie Maxwell, employed by the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) won Nuclear Apprentice of the Year for the Northwest/Northeast region. Katie completed her Apprenticeship with GEN II Engineering & Technology Training Ltd.
Gary Jones, employed by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), won the Nuclear Apprentice of the Year Southeast/East region. Gary is completed his apprenticeship with AWE Aldermaston.
Stephen Saunders, employed by Doosan Babcock, won Nuclear Apprentice of the Year Southwest. Stephen completed his apprenticeship through Doosan Babcock.
Mathew Mackay, employed by Rolls Royce won Nuclear Apprentice of the Year for Scotland. Mathew completed his apprenticeship with North Highland College.
Liam Fallows, employed by Magnox North won Nuclear Apprentice of the Year for Wales. Liam is completed his apprenticeship at Coleg Menai.

Selecting the winners was an exceptionally hard task given the high quality nominations received. Every Award winner demonstrated that they had made outstanding contributions to their places of work, commitment to their own personal development and the potential to develop a career in the nuclear sector.

All of the Regional Apprentice Award winners were put forward for the closely contested title of UK Nuclear Apprentice of the Year which was awarded to Katie Maxwell. Katie demonstrated the drive and enthusiasm to be an inspiration to both existing and new Apprentices, and demonstrated that she is a truly exceptional individual.

Jean Llewellyn, Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear said, “All of the judging panels recognised, and were extremely encouraged by, the level of commitment and dedication shown by all of the winners. The quality of the work they are all performing is a credit to the individuals, their supervisors, mentors and managers and the training providers who have all helped these individuals to realise their potential.”

Cogent was delighted to present Jillian Bundy, Manager of the Dounreay Training and Development Department, the Cogent SSC Award for Outstanding Leadership in Skills. Cogent CEO, Joanna Woolf presented Jillian with her Award on the night, she said, “The high standard of entries and the wealth of leadership across the nuclear skills agenda is a testament to this industry’s commitment to people. Jillian’s entry stood out, she has shown a real dedication to workforce development engaging both employees and the local community in all her efforts.”

Photographs available upon request.

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Notes to editors

1. The National Skills Academy network will be the new gold standard for industry training, aiming to improve productivity and tackle skills shortages across England. Each National Skills Academy puts employers at the heart of skills training for their sector: they influence the curriculum to ensure it reflects employers’ needs; get involved in the Academy’s management; set standards and influence strategic direction.

National Skills Academies aim to:

· deliver high quality training for a specific sector

· provide first-class teaching in a modern learning environment

· be centres of innovation and creativity in skills development for their sector

· be flexible, sustaining the closest possible relationships with employers of all sizes

· build specialist networks with a range of other learning providers, so that new thinking, new methods and higher standards are shared, to the benefit of learners and employers.

The National Skills Academy network was initiated by the Government to address the need for a world class workforce with better skills than ever before. It is managed by the Learning and Skills Council working in partnership with the Department for Education and Skills, the Sector Skills Development Agency and the Department of Trade and Industry.

For more information see: www.nationalskillsacademy.co.uk

2. Cogent is the Sector Skills Council for the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nuclear, oil and gas, petroleum and polymer industries.

The development of the NSA concept

The NSA policy initiative was first announced in the 2005 Skills White Paper which included a commitment to establish a network of Academies covering each major sector of the economy. The White Paper referred to the need to build on existing models, and it also gave a commitment that employers were going to be given the lead role in developing Academies. The White Paper said that beyond some general principles the Government ‘will not prescribe what an Academy should be’ and ‘it will be for the employers in each sector to take the initiative in working out the approach that will best meet their needs’.