AWARDS
SPONSORED AND SHORTLISTED BY MIDDLESBROUGH COLLEGE GROUP
TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIPS
FINALIST LIONWELD KENNEDY
Winner – Manuel Marques, right, maintenance manager of CF Fertilisers UK, with Gary Potts from category sponsor Middlesbrough College Group.
WINNER
CF FERTILISERS UK
Nurturing the workforce of the future and developing its current employees earned CF Fertilisers UK the Training and Apprenticeships trophy.
The Billingham-based firm prides itself in a“ people, pathways and progression” policy in which its training and apprenticeships play a big part.
CF Fertilisers UK maintenance manager Manuel Marques, who received the award on behalf of the company, was keen to stress how important its approach to ongoing training and its apprenticeship programme are to the firm.
He said:“ It’ s a team effort that gives us an award like this – CF is proud to provide training and inspire people to be themselves.
“ We believe in giving people the skills and knowledge to enable them to succeed – it’ s very important to the company. From my perspective, you invest in people and they get the skills and knowledge to be able to persist and solve problems, which we gain from.
“ So, our people gain from the education they get and the skills and knowledge, but the company also gains from providing that training.”
Of CF’ s current 10-strong cohort of apprentices, six have successfully completed their apprenticeships and the other four are due to complete this year. And after that, there’ ll be more in the pipeline.
Mr Marques added:“ It’ s a continuing programme – we will have more apprentices once this cohort has completed. But we’ ll not only get new apprentices, we’ ve also sponsored three scholars to do work placements.
“ For me, it’ s a great achievement to be able to support the youngsters to live out their dream. And they really enjoy the people and culture at CF.
“ Our people are more than eager to share their knowledge and help the apprentices, which makes the whole scheme a success.”
Lionweld Kennedy is continuing a centurylong commitment to“ earn and learn” that builds careers, strengthens Teesside skills and supports long-term business growth.
In 2025, the Middlesbrough-based firm achieved gold accredited membership of The 5 % Club’ s 2025 – 26 Employer Audit Scheme, independently validating sustained investment in apprenticeships, graduate programmes and sponsored student placements, alongside a strong focus on social mobility, diversity and inclusion.
It was also ranked among the UK’ s Top 50 SME apprenticeship employers.
Indeed, apprentices now represent 15 % of the workforce, with structured training plans, mentoring and continued professional development all supporting progression and retention.
FINALIST PARALLOY GROUP
With a long-term commitment to training and apprenticeships as a core part of its business strategy, Paralloy Group invests heavily in developing people at all levels – from apprentices and graduates to experienced employees progressing through degree, Master’ s and PhD-level study.
Clear progression pathways enable individuals to advance into senior technical, leadership and management roles.
And through dedicated mentoring, protected learning time and strong partnerships with education providers, Paralloy has built a highly skilled, engaged workforce.
This sustained focus on developing local talent supports the Tees Valley skills pipeline and ensures Paralloy’ s continued success as a world-class engineering and manufacturing business.
SPONSOR’ S REFLECTIONS:
Gary Potts, deputy principal and CEO for skills and partnerships at Middlesbrough College Group:“ We are proud to continue our support of the business awards, particularly the Training and Apprenticeships category, which recognises and celebrates the outstanding achievements of apprentices across our area, as well as the forward-thinking employers who champion their development.
“ As a leading provider of training and apprenticeships in the region, we have the privilege of seeing first-hand the exceptional work taking place every day to strengthen local skills and help people build successful, long-term careers.
“ We have no doubt that this year’ s awards will showcase some truly inspiring stories, and we are very much looking forward to discovering and celebrating them.”
132 | Tees Business