After working together for a decade, Mitchells & Butlers and its training provider, Babcock International Group, have been recognised at the Hospitality Guild Apprenticeship Awards in the Partnership of the Year category.

The partnership was recognised for the level of communication and trust between the two organisations, where Babcock trainers work with Mitchells & Butlers' mentors to align approaches and to ensure that learners are given the support they need to achieve both their personal and professional development goals.

While the length of the partnership is testament to its strength, the success of the relationship has seen business improvements with Mitchells & Butlers turnover of apprentice staff having significantly reduced.

With their partnership now considered a model within the hospitality industry, Darren Goodenough, National Vocational Learning Manager at Mitchells & Butlers, said that the two organisations are looking to develop the relationship further.

"We've worked well together for many years and we want to continue to build on this success, so we are now looking to begin training unemployed people through a pre-employment programme so that they can be recruited onto apprenticeships."

Robert Wakefield, national account manager at Babcock International Group, said that together the two organisations have built one of the most enduring training and employer relationships in the industry.

"We work very closely together and ensure that systems are in place so that Babcock staff members are kept up to date with changes that take place at M&B - and vice versa. This means that we're always up to date with the organisation's objectives and that we can adapt accordingly."