BNY Mellon, which employs 950 people in the Piccadilly area of Manchester, and Skills Solutions have jointly won a national accolade for their innovative training programmes.

The pair were among the UK national winners for the Northwest at the National Training Awards, a prize organised by UK Skills on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The awards are the highest accolade in the field of training across both public and private sectors.

BNY Mellon, a leading securities services company, opened an office in One Piccadilly, located in Piccadilly Gardens, in 2005 with the aim of making it a major part of its global operation. While the city was a growing financial services hub with a depth of raw talent, there was a lack of skills in the securities investment industry.

To meet its ambitious target of attracting more than 800 employees within three years, BNY Mellon partnered with Skills Solutions, the region’s largest workplace education provider, to pioneer an advanced apprenticeship in Investment Administration, which links technical knowledge with on-the-job training.

To date over 110 BNY Mellon employees have undertaken the advanced apprenticeship and 75 per cent of those who qualified have moved onto more senior roles within the company.

Jackie Williams, managing director of BNY Mellon in Manchester, said: “It’s fantastic that the effort and success of the team has again been recognised through this prestigious award. We considered it vital when we established the office in Manchester to ensure that employees had the opportunity to secure training that were not just relevant to their current roles but would prepare them for a long-term career with BNY Mellon.
“In order to do this we developed an industry-leading training programme capable of quickly instilling the expertise and values which underpin BNY Mellon’s competitiveness.”

The strength of training schemes at BNY Mellon’s Manchester office was first recognised in 2007 when the company won a coveted NTA Award for its Core Induction Programme. The judges praised the company for using learning practices and qualifications to enable employees from a broad spectrum of backgrounds to gain specialist knowledge and outperform many of the industry standards.

BNY Mellon & Skills Solutions will join national winners from other regions at the UK Gala Ceremony at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls on December 10 when the overall Winner of the Year prize will be presented.