Set up in 1987 by the then Department for Education and Science the National Training Awards are the UK’s number one accolade for businesses, organizations and individuals who achieved lasting excellence and success through training and learning. In recent years there has been some success for the tourism and hospitality industry. For example, in 2003 five companies triumphed in a multi-sector field of 1000 entries. For the competition that year entries for the national competition increased by 25 per cent, but for the hospitality sector there was a 70 per cent rise in applicants. In the most recent awards in 2005 Nando’s, the Chicken restaurant chain, won awards for its outdoor management development programme and its staff training programme. Derived from Anon (2003b); Hope (2005).
