FEBRUARY 2020 | 29
Skills
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
GAI EDUCATION AWARDS SHOW AN
INDUSTRY FACING A CONFIDENT FUTURE
The door and window
hardware industry’s rising
stars were celebrated
at the 40th annual
Guild of Architectural
Ironmongers’ (GAI)
Education Awards.
Held at the Royal Lancaster hotel,
London, on November 7 2019, the awards
celebrated the architectural ironmongery
professionals who have achieved their
GAI Diploma and recognised the highest
achieving students. The awards were spon-
sored this year by ASSA ABLOY Opening
Solutions UK and Ireland.
This year, exams were sat by 390
learners across all three stages of the GAI
education programme. Students came from
26 different countries, with just under
half of them based outside the UK. There
has been a particularly high number of
learners from United Arab Emirates (UAE),
China and India.
At the awards, Gold, Silver and Bronze
medals were awarded to the highest
achieving students at the GAI Diploma
level and there were also prize awards for
the top three students from the Certificate
in Architectural Hardware (CiAH) level.
This year, the Diplomas and awards
were given to students by former Top Gear
Stig, Ben Collins.
The full list of Education
Awards winners in 2019 is:
The Pinnacle Award, sponsored
by Eurobond Doors:
• Bala Vignesh, ASSA ABLOY Opening
Solutions Middle East
GAI Diploma:
• Gold – Bala Vignesh, ASSA ABLOY
Opening Solutions Middle East
• Silver – Craig Birch, ASSA ABLOY
Opening Solutions
• Bronze – Bernadeth Prometidos, Con-
sort Middle East LLC
CiAH Prize Winners:
• First place - Andrew Marshall, ASSA
ABLOY New Zealand
• Second place - Ian Tisdale, Carlisle
Brass
• Third place - Michael Hunt, More
Handles
Dave Timson, technical sales director
at Eurobond Doors, presented this year’s
Pinnacle Award to Bala Vignesh, specifica-
tion consultant at ASSA ABLOY Opening
Solutions Middle East.
Bala Vignesh said of his career and Di-
ploma success:
“I had been working in the door and
ironmongery industry for eight years and
wanted to get to grips with all the essen-
tials of architectural ironmongery. I wanted
to be able to walk into meetings with
customers with confidence, knowing that
everything I’m specifying is up to code
and is the best choice of product.
“At the moment there are technical and
regulatory changes everywhere. Locks are
changing from mechanical to electrical, 2D
drawings are becoming 3D models, and
the way that we specify is also evolving. It
is important that we stay up to date, and
the GAI Diploma programme has prepared
me for this.”
Julian Newman, president of the GAI,
said:
“The scrutiny of the skills, qualifica-
tions and competence of everyone in the
building industry has never been higher,
and each part of the supply chain needs to
prove its worth. The GAI Diploma makes
this possible in our sector. It is the only rec-
ognised programme in the world that leads
to a qualification in architectural ironmon-
gery to British and European standards.”
The awards recognised the industry’s
rising stars at each stage in the GAI educa-
tion programme.
While the Diploma is the primary qualifi-
cation for professional architectural ironmon-
gers, the Certificate in Architectural Hard-
ware is particularly useful for those working
in related warehouse and trade counter roles,
procurement, scheduling and estimating,
customer service, technical support, sales and
administration. Comprising two stages with
24 online education modules, the Certificate
covers the product knowledge required by
these roles.
Following completion of the Certificate in
Architectural Hardware, students can progress
to the GAI Diploma. The Diploma builds on
product knowledge and enables the writing
of accurate hardware specifications and quo-
tations. This qualification is particularly suited
to those in customer service, contract man-
agement, scheduling and estimating, technical
and sales. To become a full GAI member, a
company must have at least one employee
who has passed the GAI Diploma.
ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions spon-
sored the GAI Education Awards.
www.gai.org.uk