Ambassadors - East of England
We are well into the 'Entry Window' now with a little over a month to run before the closing date for entries on 23rd April. The sessions we are running in the region are proving really useful and the number of people attending is well up on previous years.
Even better is the fact that attendees are, mostly, very serious about pursuing an entry, and have clearly given the matter a great deal of thought before attending the sessions. Long may it continue....if it does we could be looking at a very significant rise in the number of entries in the region compared to last year.
Running in parallel with the main NTA Information Sessions is a wealth of other promotion activity in East of England which is really helping to spread the word. A huge thank you to a group of ambassadors who have helped greatly with this both with media coverage, where we have been featured by a wide variety of organisations in circulars to members, and in helping me get access to events where NTA can have some presence at. At each of these so far I have met people who would like to pursue an entry themselves or who are encouraging other organisations to apply. A few others have said they aren't ready to enter this year but have taken our literature because they believe they will be a future entrant which means we are already feeding the pipeline for next year.
The last of our Information Sessions is on the 17th March at Hatfield but we will continue to promote entries for the awards right through to the end of the month.
NTA UK Award Winner, Partnership; Ridgeons
Timber and Builders Merchant Ltd and Cambridge Regional
College
Construction Merchant and College Build
Sustainable Partnership
When Ridgeons Timber and Builders Merchants needed to improve its staff's construction knowledge in order to increase sales, it turned to Cambridge Regional College for help - starting a unique partnership that would benefit both.
Ridgeons Ltd, the largest independently owned timber and builders merchant in the country, employs 825 staff at 25 sites. Although successful, the company recognised that they needed a workforce who could guide, advise and inform builders in order to ensure appropriate sales. It turned to Cambridge Regional College (CRC), a large skills focused, Beacon Award winning, Further Education College, in order to develop a mutually beneficial partnership.
Both organisations identified a need to enhance knowledge to meet the demands of a changing legislative framework and rapidly changing construction industry, especially in the areas of building materials, techniques and renewable energy systems. Ridgeons had a strong understanding of the Code for Sustainable Homes, while CRC had experience of modern methods of construction and renewable energy systems. By joining forces both organisations realised they could improve staff skills and knowledge.
Name : Anne Gadsden
Anne Gadsden is an experienced learning development practitioner both as a consultant and as a visiting lecturer at Barnfield College of Further Education. She also has extensive past experience of using learning and development as a line manager to support the achievement of business objectives and it was this experience that motivated her to make her second career in this field.
Anne has lived in the Eastern Region for more than thirty years and, over time, has worked in many parts of the region, as well as holding a region wide role for a large multi-national company for several years. She has recently joined National Training Awards as regional coordinator for East of England.
