UK Nuclear Skills Awards

19 March 2009: 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 and learning institution representatives. 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, and an after dinner speech from Steve Williams OBE (Double 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 completing 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 completing 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 completing 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 shown herself to be a truly exceptional individual.

Jean Llewellyn, Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear,

“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.