Wednesday 6th March saw East Riding College host their first annual Apprentice Awards Dinner and Annual General Meeting, which honoured apprentices enrolled in the College and businesses who provide apprenticeships.

This was the first dedicated Apprentice Awards ceremony held by the College and, having seen over 30 apprentices from the college graduate our training scheme, we were delighted to be included in the celebration.

The guests were welcomed by Simon Wright, who introduced the new ceremony, and emphasised the need to support apprenticeship schemes and their potential to serve the future workforce – especially in an impending post-Brexit economy where further education cuts are imminent, and rural areas such as ours are especially vulnerable. Mike Welsh, principal of East Riding College then spoke, highlighting the colleges annual report and objectives for the coming year, underlining that East Riding had recruited 518 young people aged 16-18 to apprenticeship programs, all of whom hand undertaken work experience. He also emphasised that East Riding had managed one of the highest retention rates of apprentice providers in the UK.


After reflecting on his own experience as a construction apprentice, Simon and Mike handed out the Apprentice of the Year awards. After dinner was served, the ‘Training Champion’ awards were handed out – these recognise strength and achievements by apprenticeship providers. This award is divided into two categories, Small and Large Business – we were honoured to be the first company awarded the Training Champion – Large Business.

Describing our business to the awards audience, Simon underlined the numerous awards already collected by the scheme - including the Princess Royal award – the long history of Dovecote Park as a purely British meat supplier and the emphasis placed on supporting young people in our industry, referring to our ‘impressive talent pipeline’. He also highlighted our strong support of female apprentices in a historically male-dominated industry.


Dave Stringer (pictured with Mike Welsh and Simon Wright) – Butchery Apprentice Trainer accepted the award on behalf of Dovecote Park, with Joe Bettison (pictured below) representing Dovecote Parks current apprentice roster. This award is the latest in a long line of industry accolades bestowed upon our Apprentice scheme – needless to say we are thrilled to see the scheme awarded once again, and especially pleased to be recognised out of over 400 employers by our own apprentice provider.

Congratulations and sincere thanks are due to Dave Stringer, Damien McKnight and of course to all our hardworking apprentices – we are exceptionally proud of the scheme and look forward to seeing it grow and achieve even more.