FORTH VALLEY COLLEGE was among the honours this week at the engineering construction industry (ECI) prizegiving ceremony in London.

FVC scooped the Approved Training Provider of the Year award at the event at the Cutty Sark on Thursday.

The 11th ECI Training and Development Awards, organised by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), brought together industry leaders, influencers and policymakers, as well as the rising stars of tomorrow.

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The ceremony was hosted by engineer, broadcaster, teacher and STEM advocate, Kate Bellingham.

The college won its award because of a number of its training initiatives.

Judges agreed that the college had achieved outstanding success in its delivery of the Oil and Gas Technical Apprentice Programme (OGTAP) over the past 12 years and boasted an exceptional 100 per cent transition rate for participants in the ECITB Scholarship programme into employment.

It was also shown that FVC’s flexible Train the Painter initiative, developed in conjunction with esteemed industry partners, underscores its unwavering commitment to providing customised training solutions.

FVC’s dedication to nurturing a proficient, industry-prepared workforce through innovation and close collaboration with ECITB also earned it recognition at the awards and contributed to the win.

Kenny MacInnes, FVC principal and chief executive, said: “I am absolutely delighted and so proud to lead an organisation that has delivered such excellent training.

“I myself started as an apprentice, so to receive this award is full circle for me. To be principal of an organisation that’s been recognised for delivering such excellent training is just overwhelming.

“We’ve had such a long relationship with the ECITB. It’s fantastic to be recognised among our peers for delivering excellence, working in close partnership for so long.

ECITB’s Chief Executive Andrew Hockey added: “I would like to congratulate all the winners and finalists who are great examples of the success stories from across the industry over the past year.

“They exemplify the talent, innovation, resilience and endeavour that our industry holds in such high regard, setting standards to which we all aspire.

“The quality of nominations this year reflects the strength of talent in the industry and the breadth of attendees last night shows that these awards are one of the biggest events in the engineering construction calendar.

“It was wonderful to be in the same room to celebrate all that is great about training and development in our industry with so many partners and friends representing organisations from across the length and breadth of the UK and internationally.

"I’d like to extend a huge thank you to all our judges, who had the monumental task of choosing a winner in each category.”