THE second North Hertfordshire College Business Excellence Awards were held at the purpose-built Goldsmith Management Centre in Letchworth GC last Thursday. Learners on a wide range of management and professional courses at the centre nominated their orga

THE second North Hertfordshire College Business Excellence Awards were held at the purpose-built Goldsmith Management Centre in Letchworth GC last Thursday.

Learners on a wide range of management and professional courses at the centre nominated their organisations for the awards, which act as an opportunity for companies across the region to receive recognition for good performance in training programmes.

The Best Employer for Motivating and Rewarding its Workforce Through Training Award (sponsored by The Comet) was given to AVNET, an electronics marketing company based in Stevenage.

Stevenage Leisure Limited won the Best Employer for Company Training - National Employer Training Programme Award (sponsored by the Hertfordshire Learning and Skills Council).

Dufaylite Developments Ltd, a paper honeycomb products manufacturer based in St Neots, was the winner of the Best Employer for Training into Practice Award sponsored by the IEE.

The award for Best Employer for Customer Service (sponsored by the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce) was given to Clinicare, a private medical insurance company based in Letchworth GC.

The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service (BHAPS) was the winner of the Best Employer for Coaching and Mentoring its Staff Award sponsored by the Hertfordshire Business Incubation Centre.

Each year the Gold Medal Award is given to an individual or organisation to recognise outstanding performance. The award, sponsored by the Goldsmith Management Centre, was won for the first time this year by a learner, Ashley Rowland, who works full time as a machine operator.

David Williams, head of business development at Goldsmith Management Centre, was delighted once again with the response to this year's awards.

"This was a great evening, the organisations that joined us for the night are successful companies and it is great that these awards provide an opportunity to highlight good practice to a wider audience," he said.