Cambridge Network’s impact award is a first for John

Cambridge Network’s Learning Collaboration has been named a winner in the 2019 Learning at Work Week Impact Awards.

The awards are presented to companies and organisations for running excellent Learning at Work Week campaigns. The 2019 winners and commended organisations took the year’s theme, Shaping the Future, to the heart of their activities.

Cambridge Network’s programme brought together member companies and trainers in the nine months leading up to Learning at Work Week, which took place May 13-19. This preparation led to training sessions, workshops and courses throughout the week, aimed at promoting a learning culture in members’ and other workplaces, and encouraging companies to develop workplace skills.

The wide range of subjects covered included management and leadership, influencing, presentation skills, communication and interviewing skills, and more.

The chief executive of Cambridge Network is John Gourd, who took over the role from Claire Ruskin three months ago.

“This award is testament to the dedication of our Learning Collaboration team and to our many partners, both in member companies and in training organisations,” he said. “Like the Learning Collaboration itself, the campaign grew from small beginnings in 2018 to become the comprehensive programme we offered this year. The success of the campaign also highlights our members’ ambition to continually develop their staff, which contributes to the overall success of the Cambridge area.”

He continued: “Cambridge Network’s mission is for shared success and our aim is to help our members grow and develop, whether that’s through connecting with partners, winning funding, finding new talent, or developing the people in their organisation.

“The Learning Collaboration was born when member companies realised they could save time, effort and money by sharing with other local companies the training they were already buying in individually. And over the past decade or so, this service has snowballed – so that now we offer a huge range of open and in-house courses, more than one for every day of the year. Our trusted trainers all come recommended by our members and deliver courses across the UK and Europe, and have gone as far afield as California.

“We have plans for Learning at Work Week to be even bigger and better in 2020.”

Mr Gourd was previously at Johnson Matthey for 31 years – “I did everything, my last role was running the site at Royston”. Speaking of his induction he said: “I’m having a fantastic time, it’s always good to get to a new venture, and excitement quickly overtook the sadness of leaving an organisation I’d worked for for so long.

“Based on what I’ve seen there’s a great demand for the services we offer, so I’m very encouraged by that. A lot of companies are very keen about the culture they work in and how to articulate that externally, especially if they’re looking to recruit. What’s wanted is to excite people you recruit into your beliefs and values.”

Cambridge Network runs around 300 member events a year in Cambridge and the local area.