HRH The Princess Royal, President of the City and Guilds of London Institute, awards employers for outstanding training and skills development programmes which have positively impacted organisations, people and wider society.
15 August 2025: City & Guilds has announced that 57 training programmes have been recognised in the 2025 Princess Royal Training Awards.
Now celebrating a decade of training excellence, The Princess Royal Training Awards honour organisations that demonstrate outstanding commitment to learning and development, and highlight the tangible impact of exceptional training on both businesses and individuals.
Launched in 2016 in response to demand from employers for recognition of excellence in workplace training, more than 1,000 training programmes have been put forward for evaluation. Since then, 415 Awards have been presented to 274 organisations, who have collectively trained almost 1 million people, demonstrating the Awards’ far-reaching place in skills development across the UK and Ireland.
Coinciding with HRH The Princess Royal’s 75th birthday, the 10th year of the Awards saw 143 applications, with 57 achieving the prestigious award. This year’s recipients represent a wide range of sectors including construction, hospitality, education and training, the public sector, not-for-profit, and heritage crafts.
In an interview recorded last year, with Kirstie Donnelly MBE, CEO of City & Guilds, HRH The Princess Royal praised the breadth and quality of the Awards’ training programmes, and acknowledged the continued importance of City & Guilds’ training in society.
More than a third of this year’s recipients were recognised for training solutions that addressed key industrial challenges, with 20 organisations presenting solutions to skills shortages and / or an ageing workforce. These included construction firms Bagnalls, Clarkson Evans and Gelder Group, all of whom have been recognised for the quality and business benefits of their apprenticeship programmes.
Crisis response charity REACT Disaster Response was recognised for its highly specialised training programme that builds confidence, teamwork, and critical incident readiness. Praised for its cost-effectiveness and impact, the programme positions REACT as a leader in grassroots emergency response.
A refreshed approach to supporting previous Award recipients seeking to renew their programme’s recognition led to a record number of renewals this year. Among the notable renewals were GSK’s industry-led Chemistry Continual Professional Development Programme, which continues to drive excellence in scientific training, and WenLin Chinese School’s Teacher Training and Mentorship Programme, which supports part-time Mandarin teachers through tailored classroom development.
Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive of City & Guilds said:
“For the last 10 years, the Princess Royal Training Awards have stood as a beacon of excellence in learning and development. We remain committed to expanding the reach of the Awards, engaging more organisations, and continuing to showcase best practice that drives success.
This year’s recipients have presented innovative approaches to challenges within their organisations which are highly representative of wider challenges within UK business and society, tackling problems including skills gaps and attracting quality applicants.
We have also seen an increased focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as organisations explore ways to foster inclusive workplaces and ensure that disadvantaged or marginalised groups of workers benefit from high-quality training.
The tenth year of the Awards have seen an ever-more diverse range of organisations investing in their people to improve their training propositions and performance, and we look forward to celebrating with this year’s recipients in the Autumn.”
For a full list of this year’s recipients and their training programmes please see the 2025 recipients page or find out how to apply for The Princess Royal Training Awards 2025 here.
We are absolutely delighted to receive news of this most prestigious training award. The rigor of assessment by City and Guilds makes the achievement feel even greater to recognise the impact the team at JCB have had on the business. We are extremely grateful.