24th August 2020

South Devon College employer partner, Princess Yachts, are thrilled to announce that they have been awarded a Princess Royal Training Award for their Apprenticeship scheme. The awards are selected by HRH The Princess Royal and the President of City & Guilds Group to recognise organisations whose training has delivered measurable business impact.

The City & Guilds Group announced on Friday, 14 August that 43 recipients from a wealth of sectors have been commended by the 2020 Princess Royal Training Awards. The already award winning Princess Yachts Apprenticeship scheme certainly deserves the recognition it is receiving, as recruitment continued throughout the Covid-19 lockdown period via Zoom interviews, and a record number of apprentices will be starting their programme at Princess Yachts in September 2020, with apprentices placed across all areas of the business.

Now in its fifth year, the Princess Royal Training Awards recognises employers across the United Kingdom with outstanding training and development programmes that have had a direct impact on business performance. Princess Yachts as a 2020 winner of this award have demonstrated ‘exceptional commitment to training, despite facing unprecedented challenges of Covid-19’ according to the judges.

Princess Yachts won the award for ‘positioning apprenticeships as a viable career choice’. Princess was recognised for having invested in its apprenticeship programme to ensure that it has a strong talent pipeline in place. Apprenticeships at Princess are open to employees of any age, with apprentices progressing their career path within the business and in fact 10% of the current managers within the business are former apprentices. Getting an apprenticeship with Princess Yachts is widely viewed as an extremely attractive career opportunity in the region.

South Devon College have helped to accommodate the growth of Princess Yacht’s apprenticeships since forming their partnership in October last year with a unique and innovative apprenticeship programme. At the College’s Paignton Campus is the dedicated Princess Yachts Learning Academy workshop facility. Inside is one of the luxury yacht builder’s V40 hulls allowing apprentices to work with the same industry-standard products and equipment, whether at their workplace or studying at the College.

“We are so pleased to be awarded a Princess Royal Training Award for our apprenticeship programme,” says Alison Thompson, Head of Learning & Development at Princess Yachts, “the assessment process was rigorous and very different this year taking place remotely via MS Teams. However, the assessors took the time to speak to some of our apprentices and to gain a better understanding of our collaborative partnership with South Devon College who support us in the delivery of our programme. It is great to know we are setting the right standards, experience and support to our apprentices as they begin their career with us and ultimately the marine industry.”

For more information, visit southdevon.ac.uk where you can find all of the courses on offer. If you have any questions, get in touch by calling 08000 380 123 or email enquiries@southdevon.ac.uk.