With a record number of submissions from individuals and organisations from across the globe, the winners were selected from a competitive field of entrants, all of whom demonstrated exceptional vision and depth in providing learning solutions with a proven business impact. The Learning and Performance Institute assembled a collection of highly experienced industry figures to form the independent judging panel, chaired by Charles Jennings, Nigel Pain, Cathy Hoy, Susan Bradshaw, and others who combed through hundreds of submissions to select the very best.

Popular British television presenter, Tess Daly, hosted the event, which took place at the five-star Dorchester Hotel on London’s Park Lane. The ceremony was filled with international figureheads from the global learning community, who joined the awards finalists to celebrate outstanding success across 16 award categories.

This year was notable for the addition of two new categories: the Digital Learning Transformation Award to reflect the changing remit of L&D professionals, as they incorporate more digital resources and performance support in their solutions, and the Rising Star Award to recognise up-and-coming talent within organisations.

The standout categories included Learning Team of the Year, which was won by Specsavers, whilst the Learning Provider of the Year, dominated by a host of well-known names including Kallidus, QA and LEO Learning, went to EF Education First. The hotly contested Learning Technologies Award was won by Sky Academy, with Serious Games International and BP close behind with respective Silver and Bronze awards.

The coveted CLO of the year was won by Kavita Kurup of Axis Bank, whilst the Learning Professional of the Year 2018 was Sharon Claffey-Kaliouby of State Street Global Advisors.

This year the Colin Corder Award for Outstanding Contribution to Learning was awarded to Jeanne Meister, recipient of the ATD Distinguished Contribution in Workplace Learning Award, author of several award-winning books, and regular columnist in TIME Magazine, NPR, SHRM’s HR Magazine, Digitalist Magazine, and CIO Magazine. Jeanne takes her rightful place among other learning luminaries such as Elliott Masie, Jane Hart, Charles Jennings, and Bob Mosher.

Speaking at the awards, LPI CEO, Edmund Monk, said, "Tonight, we congratulate every one of the finalists who have been selected from a highly competitive pool of entries from across the globe. The individuals and organisations recognised here are inspirations to us all and deserve the fullest praise for their achievements. As tonight’s achievements demonstrate, opportunities abound for all of us to forge a bright future for the organisations we represent. Our time is now."

The evening commenced with the LPI Charity Auction in aid of Dreamflight, a small charity that takes seriously ill or disabled children to Disneyland Florida each year. The LPI has raised over £390,000 for children’s charities since the Auction was launched in 1999.

The Learning Awards 2018 Winners
Sponsored by BCS Learning & Development Ltd.
 

Internal Learning Solution of the Year – Sponsored by QA
Gold: BT
Silver: DPD
Bronze: McCann Worldgroup
Finalists: AbbVie, Bullet Lift Services, Virgin Active

External Learning Solution of the Year – Sponsored by Training Zone
Gold: PepsiCo & Triniti Marketing
Silver: AXA & Sponge UK
Bronze: Great Western Railway & MTD Training
Finalists: beyondblue & Liquid Interactive, Booking.com & GoodPractice, McDonald's & Kallidus

Apprenticeship Programme of the Year – Sponsored by CompTIA
Gold: St. Mungo's
Silver: Centrica
Finalists: Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, TOM Vehicle Rental

People Development Programme of the Year (Public Sector) – Sponsored by The Working Manager
Gold: Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Silver: Medical Research Council
Bronze: LEO Learning

People Development Programme of the Year (Private Sector) – Sponsored by Teach on Mars
Gold: Wolseley, Insights Learning & Development & Odissy
Silver: Manpower Group
Bronze: AbbVie
Finalists: Hugo Boss Textile, GlaxoSmithKline

Learning Technologies Award – Sponsored by Microsoft
Gold: Sky Academy
Silver: Serious Games International
Bronze: BP
Finalists: Ernst & Young, Mindful Education, OpenLearn at The Open University

Innovation in Learning Award – Sponsored by Serious Games International
Gold: MWR InfoSecurity
Silver: Johnson Controls
Bronze: SiyonaTech
Finalists: KNect365 Learning, London Business School, Warwick Conferences

Digital Learning Transformation Award – Sponsored by New Horizons
Gold: Mitchells & Butlers
Silver: Manipal Global Education Services
Bronze: Classera

Start-up Learning Provider of the Year – Sponsored by Woodrow Mercer
Gold: Mindful Education
Silver: EduMe
Bronze: Popcorn
Finalists: New Heroes, The Mentoring School, zipBoard

Onboarding Programme of the Year – Sponsored by Litmos Heroes
Gold: Greater Anglia
Silver: AbbVie
Bronze: GlaxoSmithKline
Finalists: At Home Décor Stores & Axonify, Generali Insurance, Clarasys

Rising Star Award – Sponsored by Filtered
Gold: Danielle Kennedy, Litmos Heroes
Silver: Hayley Khan, Virtual College
Bronze: Sukhi Sanghera, Berwin Leighton Paisner
Finalists: Emma Sephton (HT2 Labs), James Tyas (Saffron Interactive), Laura Emson (Cambridge Assessment)

Learning Professional of the Year – Sponsored by Training Journal
Gold: Sharon Claffey-Kaliouby, State Street Global Advisors
Silver: Jo Byrne, Cambridge Assessment
Bronze: John Hinchliffe, Virtual College
Finalists: Bobby Chatterjee (Inspirational Development Group), Craig Hamill (Zonal Retail Data Systems), Craig Taylor (HT2 Labs)

CLO of the Year – Sponsored by Safety Media
Gold: Kavita Kurup, Axis Bank
Finalists: Juliette Denny (Growth Engineering), Sridhar Sarathy (Tata Capital Limited)

Learning Provider of the Year – Sponsored by EY
Gold: EF Education First
Silver: Kallidus
Bronze: LEO Learning
Finalists: Athena Professional, eParamus, QA

Learning Team of the Year – Sponsored by TTS
Gold: Specsavers
Silver: EY
Bronze: Cognizant Technology Solutions
Finalists: AbbVie, Robert Bosch, State Street Global Advisors

Colin Corder Award for Outstanding Contribution to Learning - Sponsored by Pluralsight
Winner: Jeanne Meister