Dovecote Park are delighted and proud to be recognised at the 2018 Princess Royal Training Awards, held at St. James Palace in London this November.  

Damien McKnight, Training Manager accepted the award from HRH Princess Anne on behalf of the business. Damien was also joined by Dave Stringer, Butchery Apprentice Trainer and Ben Charlton, Qualified Butcher.  

The Princess Royal Training awards, under the patronage of HRH Princess Anne are delivered by the City & Guilds Group, to ‘highlight the value of training and employee development and celebrate examples of best practice’.  We were commended by the Princess Royal panel for creating an ‘impressive talent pipeline’, with our Apprenticeship scheme employing 48 apprentices in total.


We were especially pleased to be recognised for our work with female apprentices – in fields such as butchery with an overwhelmingly male workforce, we are proud to be challenging these norms via the hard-working young women on our apprentice scheme.

Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty stated, “I applaud Dovecote Park for their commitment and investment in the long term skills development of their staff.  Not only has that paid off in a significant return on investment, it has guaranteed employment and career opportunities for the next generation of employees.”  

Andrew McAllister, Managing Director said, “We welcome the Princess Royal Training Award as recognition for the impact our approach has had on our business.  I feel we are reaping the rewards of our sustained commitment to training and our investment in our employees.

 
The development of the butchery apprenticeship programme has been central to our success, but the long-term planning, overall training structure and employee development ethos in all areas of the business are also what has clinched this award.  We couldn’t be prouder of our team.”

Our apprentice scheme has become, in a relatively brief period, a core component of our operations, and we are absolutely thrilled to see it recognised!