Trainees and organisations from around the country have been honoured in the 2005 Scottish Modern Apprenticeships Awards. The outright winners were announced at a ceremony in Edinburgh's Sheraton Grand Hotel on Thursday 6th October 2005.

Modern Apprenticeships offer people aged over 16 the chance of paid employment linked with the opportunity to train for jobs at craft, technician and management level. Delivered in Scotland in 2005 by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, in association with employers and training organisations.

Note: The responsibility for the national training programmes, including Modern Apprenticeships, transferred from Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to Skills Development Scotland on 1 April 2008

The 2005 awards aimed to showcase those who achieved excellence using the Apprenticeship initiative.The chair of the judging panel, Harry Donaldson from the GMB Union, said: “The standard of applications just gets better and better. This year the standard has been exceptional.”

The winners (and nominees) in each category were :

Apprentice Achievement (Continuing Personal Development)
Ype Van der Schaaf, Glenturret Distillery - WINNER

Other finalists were:
Kevin Wallace, Fife Council
Graham Findlay, Babcock Engineering Services

Apprentice Achievement (Contribution to others)
Kenny McGinty, AWG - WINNER

Other finalists were:
Asma Kassin, Nari Kallyan Shango
Sean Roxburgh, IBM UK Ltd

Apprentice Achievement (Overcoming the odds)
Garry Munro, NHS - WINNER

Other finalists were:
Stephen Gribben, Cardonald College
Thomas Fairgrieve, Livingston Training Centre

Employee Achievement
Roddy Deans, City of Edinburgh Council - Winner

Other finalists were:
Stuart Coyle, BSkyB
Gordon Elliott, Royal Bank of Scotland

Employer (Small)
Halfords, Braehead - WINNER

Other finalists were:
One Union Hair Spa, Greenock
Lanark Golf Club, Lanark

Employer (Medium)
MacTaggart Scott, Loanhead - WINNER

Other finalists were:
Rainbow Room, Glasgow
Imes Ltd, Aberdeen

Employer (Large)
Fife Council, Cowdenbeath - WINNER

Other finalists were:
Glasgow City Council, Glasgow
Shearaton Grand Hotel and Spa, Edinburgh

Training Provider
Angus Training Group, Arbroath - WINNER

Other finalists were:
Carousel Training, Glasgow
Gosta Training, Glasgow

Partnership
IBM UK Ltd, Reid Kerr College, MI Technologies and University of Strathclyde - WINNER

The other finalists were:
BAE Systems, Xchanging HR services, Anniesland College, Clydebank College
Scottish Rugby Union, Dawes Training

Outstanding Achievement Award
Sean Roxburgh, IBM UK Ltd, received a further accolade as he went on to receive the award for Outstanding Achievement .

The judges for the 2005 awards were : 
Harry Donaldson, GMB Union;
Anneliese Archibald, Sector Skills Alliance Scotland;
John Cunningham, Modern Apprenticeship Implementation Group;
Adam Weir, Scottish Training Federation;
Keith McDowell, Scottish Executive;
Graham Young, Highlands & Islands Enterprise; 
John McCann, Scottish Further Education Unit.