EAL celebrates winners at Enginuity Skills Awards 2026 

EAL is proud to congratulate all the winners and finalists recognised at the Enginuity Skills Awards 2026, celebrating the individuals and organisations making an outstanding contribution to engineering, manufacturing and building services engineering across the UK. 

Held on 1 July at the Park Plaza London Westminster Bridge, the awards brought together employers, educators, training providers and industry leaders to recognise those inspiring the next generation of talent, championing innovation and helping to close the sector's skills gap. 

As the proud sponsor of the Training Provider Skills Champion of the Year award, EAL was delighted to celebrate the organisations building strong partnerships between education and employers to develop the skilled workforce of tomorrow. 

Congratulations to Ayrshire College 

Congratulations to Ayrshire College, winner of the Training Provider Skills Champion of the Year 2026 award. 

The college was recognised for its Supporting the Engineering & Aerospace Skills Pipeline for Ayrshire initiative, a partnership that is strengthening one of Scotland's key engineering regions. Through pre-apprenticeships, expanded apprenticeship provision and specialist upskilling, the initiative has delivered strong employer engagement, created clear pathways into engineering careers and helped build a sustainable model for regional workforce development. 

The award celebrates training providers that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to learning and skills development while supporting sustainable engineering and manufacturing growth through collaboration with employers. 

Celebrating excellence across engineering and manufacturing 

Alongside Ayrshire College, this year's winners included: 

• Best of British Engineering and Advanced Level Apprentice of the Year, sponsored by Train'd Up – Olivia Lane, Mechatronics Apprentice, Amazon 
• Graduate, Degree or Higher-Level Apprentice of the Year, sponsored by Institutes of Technology – Lucy Yelland, Automation Engineer Degree Apprentice, Siemens 
• T Level Student of the Year, sponsored by Eduqas – Calum Borland, T Level Student, BAE Systems 
• Large Employer Skills Champion of the Year, sponsored by The Welding Institute – Babcock Emerging Talent 
• New Talent Inspiration Programme of the Year, sponsored by Rolls-Royce – Babcock PSO Programme 
• SME Employer Skills Champion of the Year, sponsored by BAE Systems – Wright Brothers Industrial Services Limited 
• The Enginuity Alliance Collaboration Award, sponsored by UVAC – OneHive and Generating Genius for Scaling STEM Programmes with Tech for Good Collaboration 

Together, the winners showcase the breadth of talent, collaboration and innovation, helping to strengthen the UK's engineering and manufacturing workforce. 

Recognising outstanding achievement 

Alison Parkes, Managing Director of EAL, commented: "Congratulations to Ayrshire College on this well-deserved recognition. Strong partnerships between training providers and employers are essential to developing the skilled workforce our sector needs, and Ayrshire College's collaborative approach is a fantastic example of what can be achieved. 

"I'd also like to congratulate every finalist and winner recognised at this year's Enginuity Skills Awards. Their commitment to developing skills, creating opportunities and inspiring the next generation is helping to strengthen engineering and manufacturing and building services engineering talent across the UK." 

The Enginuity Skills Awards continue to shine a spotlight on the people and organisations making a real difference to engineering, manufacturing and building services engineering. EAL is proud to support the awards and celebrate the achievements of those helping learners, employers and the wider sector thrive.

Browse the Skills Awards 2026 photo gallery