SkyBlue and NES were singled out by judges because they developed specialist training projects to meet the needs of client in different sectors.

Mark Tully, chief operating officer of NES Group which won Best Engineering Recruitment Firm, told Recruiter: “Our value proposition is quite clear — we can guarantee recruitment solutions by investing in training,” he said.

Richard Toy, head of operations at Sky Blue, which won the construction recruitment category, told Recruiter the company had spent four years building a diversity model. “We have built a model with Jobcentre Plus where we can take someone who is fresh into the rail industry and prepare them for work through a 10-day training course.”

When candidates have completed their initial training the company uses a competency matrix to assign training opportunities to workers by the numbers of hours they work, boosting retention rates for rail workers to three-and-a-half years.

NES Group currently has 170 rail workers studying courses in the UK and intends to put another 700 through qualifications over the next 18 months.

Tully said NES and its clients benefit through an increased continuity, because labourers can be trained to work throughout the different stages of a project.