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SEEING STARS AT THE EDUCATION AWARDS
» » THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
of the door and window hardware
industry’s rising stars were celebrated at
the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers’
(GAI) annual Education Awards, held at
the Royal Lancaster hotel in London on 9
November.
The awards celebrate the architectural
ironmongery professionals who have
achieved a GAI qualification in the
Certificate in Architectural Hardware or
Diploma this year.
Of the 87 learners who attained the
Certificate in Architectural Hardware and
the 53 students who completed the full
GAI Diploma, seven also received awards
at the ceremony.
Since 1980, the GAI Education
Awards have included Gold, Silver and
Bronze awards for the top students in
the Diploma and the Pinnacle Award,
sponsored by ASSA ABLOY, which
is given to the student with the best
aggregate results over the three years of
the Diploma programme.
Eryl Jones, managing director of ASSA
ABLOY Security Solutions, presented this
year’s Pinnacle Award to Lee Gardner,
technical manager of M.E Duffell. In
his job, Lee uses his wealth of product
knowledge and experience to help with
product training and to manage the
technical team.
Lee said:
“This is all about personal development
for me. I’ve been with Duffells for 30
years and came straight into the business
from school with no real qualifications.
So I decided to go for the GAI Diploma. I
received the gold award for Stages 1 and 2
so that spurred me on to Stage 3.
“I knew I had loads of product
knowledge, but through the Diploma I
learnt so much more. I’m now in charge
of internal staff training and will be
encouraging my colleagues to go for this
excellent qualification.”
Jean-Louis Bramwell from Allgood
plc won the GAI Diploma Gold award
for attaining the highest score in the
final stage of the Diploma programme.
He started as an apprentice in the
manufacturing department of Allgood
in 2013. Shortly after completing his
apprenticeship, Jean-Louis moved into
Pinnacle award winner
Lee Gardner
Diploma holders 2017
sales support and has recently relocated
to Glasgow to undertake an external sales
role.
He said:
“Everyone in the door hardware
industry should do this qualification.
It’s hard work, but my advice is to be
optimistic and don’t give up. It’s very
useful the way the Diploma syllabus really
dovetails with my job, so that also helps
a lot.
“I’m definitely going to continue with
CPD and I aim to become a Registered
Architectural Ironmonger.
The winners and newly qualified
Diploma holders were presented with
their awards by David Stacey, president of
the GAI, and the event’s keynote speaker
and England rugby star, Matt Dawson.
David Stacey said:
“In addition to passing qualifications,
it’s imperative that as professionals we
continue to learn and keep our knowledge
up-to-date. The Institute of Architectural
Ironmongers’ CPD programme helps
members to do this. It is the next step
in demonstrating your commitment
to professionalism by qualifying as a
Registered Architectural Ironmonger
(RegAI).
“For those students who have recently
passed their Diploma, this prestigious
title is only one year away. Our RegAIs
are held in the highest regard within
our industry and becoming a RegAI is a
symbol of your commitment to keeping
your knowledge up to date and is the
benchmark standard for architectural
ironmongery.”
LOCKSMITHJOURNAL.CO.UK | NOV/DEC 2017
Sponsored by ABUS
Diploma Gold award winner
Jean-Louis Bramwell
Guests also celebrated the growing
success of the GAI education programme.
This year, exams were sat by 332 learners
across all three stages of the GAI online
training programme. Learners came from
22 different countries, with 49% of them
based outside the UK. There has been a
particularly high number of learners in
South Africa, China and the UAE.
Angie Corkhill, director of the GAI,
said:
“As the only recognised architectural
ironmongery qualification in the world,
the education programme has more than
50 years of experience in training future
generations of architectural ironmongers
to British and European standards.”
The Certificate in Architectural
Hardware is particularly useful for those
working in warehouse and trade counter
roles, procurement, scheduling and
estimating, customer service, technical
support, sales and administration.
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 quotations.
The qualification is particularly suited
to those in customer service, contract
management, scheduling and estimating,
and sales. To become a full GAI member, a
company must have at least one employee
who has passed the GAI Diploma.
dormakaba sponsored the GAI
Education Awards, and ASSA ABLOY
sponsored the Pinnacle Award.