Beard wins Train to Gain Medium Sized Employer of the Year

TV personality and adventurer Ben Fogle presented Beard with an award for Train to Gain Medium Sized Employer of the Year at the South West Skills Awards ceremony which has been described as the ‘Learning Oscars’.

Train to Gain is a service funded by the Learning and Skills Council and delivered throughout the South West by Business Link. The ceremony celebrated the contribution and achievements that organisations and individuals have made to learning and staff development.

Mark Beard Managing Director said: “I am delighted that Beard has been recognised for the training and development support it gives to its staff.  Our people are our most important asset and their personal development not only gives me great personal satisfaction but is also the central part of our strategy to maintaining our position as Oxford and Swindon’s leading construction business.”

Beard has already shown commitment to learning and development through its Investors in People accreditation. In 2006 Beard won an award for training and development in the Wiltshire Business Awards and last year became a launch partner in the government’s Skills Pledge initiative. At the launch event, which was attended by Gordon Brown, Beard made a public declaration to improve the skills of all staff encouraging them to obtain Level 2 standard qualifications (equivalent to 5 good GCSEs) or above.

The company currently has 18 out of 168 people in apprenticeship programmes, much higher than the national average. These apprenticeship programmes include roles in both management positions and in the building trades.