By Matthew Legg

Published at 11:35, Thursday, 01 May 2008

THE finalists for this year’s Excellence in Cumbria skills awards have been announced.

Rob Johnston

The prizes honour the county’s learners and their teachers and is now run by Cumbria Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony at Center Parcs, near Penrith, on May 9. The star speaker on the night is Richard Reed, founder of smoothie firm Innocent drinks.

Nominations are as follows:

Large Employer, sponsored by Invest in Cumbria: Alcan Packaging Cumbria; Bells of Lazonby; English Lakes Hotels.

Small Employer: Kiddlywinks Nursery; Murthwaite Green Trekking Centre; Unique Creations.

Leader sponsored by Fluor Ltd: Paula Edge of Risedale Estates Ltd; Karen James of Kiddlywinks Nursery; Jennie Sutton of Court Thorn Surgery.

Graduate, sponsored by University of Cumbria: Angela Kidd of Carlisle City Council; Joanne McGowran of Lakeland People Development Ltd; Jennie Sutton of Court Thorn Surgery.

Learning & Development Provider, sponsored by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Barrow Training Partnership; GEN II Engineering & Technology Training Ltd; Lucid Optical Services Ltd.

Youth Progress, sponsored by Connexions Cumbria: Louise Gunn; Victoria Page; Katrinah Taylor.

The Learning and Skills Council’s Learner Awards will also be presented as part of the evening. These include apprenticeship awards and two further education awards.

Rob Johnston, chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce & Industry said: “This promises to be a really entertaining evening. We have an exciting and interesting guest speaker and first class entertainment from Explosive Productions.

“The main reason we’ll all be gathering at Centre Parcs is to celebrate the success of Cumbrian businesses and individuals. We’ve been really pleased with the response and range of applications received; in our view, everyone’s a winner.”

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk