The former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland footballer Denis Irwin was guest of honour and speaker at a pre-conference charity dinner hosted by the exam awarding body Highfield Group to launch its conference, at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, on November 13.
The conference, which was sponsored by Marks & Spencer and ProTrainings, brought together nearly 600 delegates from across the training and education sector in the UK to discuss vocational learning and apprenticeships – including security, first aid, and health and safety.
Speakers and sponsors included names such as ASDA, City of London Corporation, Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust (DCLT), Food Standards Agency (FSA), Laing O’Rourke, MITIE, New Scotland Yard, the Security Industry Authority (SIA), Serco, Staples, Superdrug and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).
A dinner, held the evening before, helped to raise funds for Visually Impaired Children Taking Action (VICTA), which supports blind and partially sighted young people. Jason Sprenger, Chief Executive of Doncaster-based Highfield, said: ‘It was a great honour to have one of modern football’s true legends and gentlemen as our special guest and to kick our conference off in wining style. We raised over £4500 on the night for VICTA, which is a fantastic achievement, and welcomed nearly 600 delegates to our conference the next day to discuss the numerous changes and issues affecting the training and skills sector. It’s testament to how far we have grown that we were able to attract some of the biggest and most recognisable names in industry to either speak at or sponsor our conference, and we have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback received.”
