Myerscough College shortlisted in Lancashire Red Rose Awards

The prestigious awards recognise and celebrate the very best that Lancashire has to offer in terms of business, commerce and industry. Myerscough College has been shortlisted in the category of Skills Provider of the Year.

Myerscough is now looking forward to celebrating with the other finalists across all categories at the main ceremony, which is held in the magnificent Empress Ballroom at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, next month.

The last 12 months have been a phenomenal success for Myerscough College. Myerscough is in the top 10% of all colleges nationally with record pass rates for both further and higher education students across the land-based and sport sector.

In 2015, as part of an ongoing £17 million campus development programme, Myerscough opened a state-of-the-art Animal Studies Centre, Foundation Learning and Apprenticeship building, an extension of our Motorsport Academy and a Turf Technology Unit. A second Sport Complex will be completed in the next few months.

2015 saw Myerscough strengthen its position as the skills provider of choice for students and employers, with extensive industry links. The College’s substantial work-based learning and apprenticeship provision currently engages with in excess of 1,200 employers, supporting more than 1,500 learners across more than twenty industry sectors.

Other notable achievements over the last twelve months included being a major partner in delivering ‘Lancashire Skills for the Workforce’, a multi-million pound county-wide initiative to provide quality training to local employers. The College’s reputation saw a partnership formed with the Association of Professional Landscapers, bringing in learners from across the country to deliver training excellence. The scheme is a national first for the sector.

All learners leave Myerscough with both the qualifications and work skills required to be ‘job ready’. In addition, Myerscough’s extensive marketing and schools liaison network and contacts mean the College is constantly in the public eye via a range of mediums, including our comprehensive website, numerous social media feeds, paid for advertising and attending hundreds of school careers events.

Our annual Open Day & Country Fair is as popular as it’s ever been and attracts upwards of 12,000 people. It’s widely regarded as one of the county’s premier summer tourism events.

Myerscough is currently working towards obtaining Stage 2 in the Investors in Diversity programme, with the aim of becoming a ‘Diversity Leader’ by the end of 2016.

The government focus on ‘trailblazers’ will this year see the College at the forefront of several industry led partnerships to implement new standards, and to grow provision both within Lancashire and nationally.

Myerscough College was announced as a nominee after a day of rigorous pre-scoring at Northcote at the Rovers whittling down the entries to just six finalists.

Richard Slater, publisher of Lancashire Business View – the magazine behind the awards, said: “The entries we received this year were stronger than ever, and many businesses across this great county are recording excellent performances.”

“We are excited at the prospect of bringing the county together at the Winter Gardens on March 10 to celebrate the success of Lancashire business, form new relationships and have a fantastic night!”

Dr John Lonsdale, director of innovation and enterprise at UCLan, judging partner for Red Rose Awards 2016, said: “The Red Rose Awards showcase the diverse range of growing, innovative and creative firms that we have here in Lancashire.”

“It has been a great honour to be part of the judging process and we faced a very tough task when selecting a shortlist from so many strong candidates.  We are now looking forward to the Awards evening and celebrating all that the county’s businesses have to offer.”

Andrea Stamp, director of marketing and business development at Forbes Solicitors, headline sponsors of the awards for the sixth year, commented: “Although it’s a difficult job, we always enjoy the judging element of the awards and this year has been no different. The quality of the entries is even higher than previous years and we look forward to meeting the finalists on the interview days to hear more about their fantastic businesses”.

John Stanworth, director of business and corporate at Barclays in Lancashire, headline sponsor, added: “The calibre of entries this year has surpassed our expectations, so the finalists should be incredibly proud that they have made it to this stage. We are looking forward to meeting them during the next stage and celebrating with everyone on the night of the Awards.”

The award ceremony takes place on March 10^th.