Announced at the IAPA Award ceremony, which was held on 6th March in Dubai, the IPAF Members only award was presented to Nationwide Platforms Training Manager, Charlie Ellis. Charlie was honoured with the IPAF Training Instructor of the Year for his dedication in providing quality training on some of the largest construction projects in 2018; most notably the high-risk Highways England M5 re-development at Oldbury Viaduct where he acted as Lead Senior Instructor.
Having dedicated the last 14 years to providing working at height training at Nationwide Platforms, Charlie has consistently demonstrated outstanding commitment to the IPAF training programme, providing in-depth support and guidance, whilst always striving to maintain the quality and integrity of IPAF courses.
Under Charlie’s leadership and guidance, Nationwide Platforms completed a record number of IPAF Training Courses in 2018 with a total of 15,306 delegates trained over 35 different courses. With a passion for knowledge and an eagerness to educate not only himself but also others around him, Charlie’s outstanding dedication and performance within the field has seen him accomplish a number of personal achievements over the years, most notably standing as Chairman of the IPAF Training Committee.
Since Charlie became Training Manager, Nationwide Platforms has continuously been the largest provider of IPAF training in the UK, winning the accolade for the 7th year running in 2018.
With retirement just around the corner for Charlie, the accolade couldn’t come at a better time to mark the end of an extremely success career. “I am absolutely delighted to have won this award, it’s not quite sunk in! Winning this is just a reflection of the absolutely sterling job my team provide on a daily basis so they all deserve this award as much as I do.”
Speaking after the awards, Nationwide Platforms Managing Director, Colin Hotchkiss said “We’re extremely proud that Charlie has been honoured with Training Instructor of the Year this evening. Receiving this award is a testament to Charlie and his training teams hard work and continued commitment to achieving world class standards and maintaining Nationwide Platforms position as Europe’s largest IPAF training provider.”
Internationally recognised and attended by more than 400 industry delegates, the IAPAs are considered the most prestigious and respected awards within the powered access industry. The award ceremony coincided with the IPAF Summit, which brings together senior representatives to discuss and debate the latest industry developments. High on the agenda at this year’s summit was discussions around the use of virtual reality in the powered access industry with talks from Giles Councell, IPAF Director of Operations and President & CEO of Serious Lab, Jim Calvin; who Nationwide Platforms partnered with to develop their VR platform with.
The evening concluded with the announcement that next year’s IPAF Summit & IAPA Awards will be held in London on the 23rd April 2020.
