He’s bowled over! Cricket ace Phil Tufnell celebrates with EDA Award winners
Posted by: electime 13th March 2019
Sixteen high performing individuals from across the UK’s electro-technical wholesaling sector were celebrated at the EDA’s 2019 Education & Training Awards recently. Eight managers, singled out for championing the EDA’s Training & Apprenticeship Programme within their businesses and teams, received an Investor in Training Award in front of an audience of 540 – including special guest, England international cricketer and TV personality, Phil Tufnell – at the Association’s Annual Dinner on Park Lane on Thursday 7 March 2019. The next day, at a lunch held at London’s Shard, eight EDA Learning Achievement Awards were presented in recognition of outstanding performance in an apprenticeship or product knowledge training.
Competition is fierce for an EDA Award. The winners are singled out from thousands of employees across all EDA manufacturer and wholesaler businesses based on grades achieved in product knowledge module studies, or of assessed performance in the case of apprentices.
EDA President Chris Gibson, who presented the Awards alongside John Henry, MD of event sponsors EDA Apprenticeships Plus, said “Our winners come from the four corners of the UK, from Edinburgh to Guernsey, from Lincoln to Torquay. While their businesses may be diverse, each worthy winner is celebrated for the same reasons: in the case of learners it’s their commitment and dedication to developing their own professional skills and growing their careers and, for our manager winners, their leadership skills in driving high performance in their teams through apprenticeships and training.”
“Every business needs to attract and retain talent, and our annual EDA Awards show how these businesses are raising their game by investing in their people. An EDA trophy symbolises a commitment to developing the professional skills and knowledge that underpin the best in customer service.”
On Friday 8 March 2019 family, friends, and business colleagues gathered for a celebratory lunch on the 34th Floor of the Shard where outstanding performance in an apprenticeship or in distance-learning product knowledge training was marked with an EDA Learning Achievement Award.
Margaret Fitzsimons, CEO at the EDA, added “The EDA Learning achievement Awards are particularly special as these go to talented individuals whose performance has marked them out as ‘one to watch’ for the future. By opening up our Shard event to friends and family, we are showcasing the attractive career opportunities on offer in the UK’s electro-technical supply chain to a wider audience.
“This year we’ve also invited back three-time EDA Award winner, Craig Hiepner of Deta Electrical Company Ltd. Craig is also one of just a handful of people who secured 10 out of a possible 10 distinctions in his product knowledge training several years ago. Since then, his career has flourished so we invited him to present special awards to two individuals who have followed in his footsteps by securing 10 top grades: Douglas Day, Commercial Trainee, and Zoe Ellison, Internal Sales, both at Edmundson Electrical Ltd.”
The 2019 EDA Awards, part of the Association’s celebrations for the 12th annual National Apprenticeship Week, are sponsored by EDA Apprenticeships Plus who have managed the Association’s Apprenticeship Programme since 2011.
