• London’s foremost employers will recognise the training successes of their youngest talent today. The employees aged 16 to 24 have completed or are working towards National Traineeships or Modern Apprenticeships. Representatives of Focus Quality Services, Selfridges, Toni and Guy, Hilton Hotels and QPR Football Club were there to recognise the efforts of the young achievers. Steve Wilson, of BBC TV’s Live and Kicking, was due to present awards including most improved personal development and best customer service. A presentation was made to Selfridges and Hilton Hotels for their commitment to training and development.
Olympic-size training
• A Cumbria training group has won a contract to deliver multicultural training to staff at Visa in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics. The three-stage process will be undertaken by the company’s Australia office and will take place in the 10 days leading up to the games. Training sessions will focus on developing the Visa team’s cultural awareness. The company, Impact, will also train 200 temporary staff employed by Sportsmark to ensure high-quality hospitality at the games.
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T&D spend rise call
• Engineering companies need to spend more on training, research reveals. The survey covered more than 500 companies with a sales turnover of £40bn and 236,000 employees. It showed average off the job training expenditure is now £700, but the total spent on training represented 0.4 per cent of sales turnover. Gordon Scott, director of EEF Sheffield Association, said companies should double the 2.7 per cent of payroll spent on training.
