Former Top
Gear Stig, Ben Collins, has been announced
as this year’s guest speaker at the Guild of Architectural
Ironmongers (GAI) Education Awards.  

Ben will join the awards, which?recognise the
outstanding educational achievements of the door hardware industry, at
the?Royal Lancaster?hotel in London on 7 November. 

Ben started his motorsport
career in 1994, competing in Formula First, Formula Vauxhall Junior and
International Formula 3. He is best known as The Stig from
BBC’s Top Gear, but throughout his career he has also been a television
presenter, author, stunt driver and World Record holder.  

The?GAI?Education
Awards?include?Gold, Silver and Bronze awards for the top students in the GAI Diploma,
as well as the Pinnacle Award, sponsored by?Eurobond Doors,?for?the student with the best
aggregate results over the three years of the Diploma programme.? 

The GAI Diploma?is designed
to?give students?a high level of?product knowledge and?the ability to
write?accurate hardware specifications and quotations.?The qualification?is
particularly suited to those in customer facing roles, contract
management, scheduling and estimating, and sales.? 

GAI president, Julian Newman,
said: 

 â€œScrutiny of the skills
and competence of everyone in the building industry has never been higher, and
each part of the supply chain needs to prove its worth. The GAI Diploma makes
this possible in our sector – it is the only recognised architectural ironmongery
qualification to British and European standards in the world. 

“As we celebrate the fantastic
achievements of this cohort of students, it’s important to reflect on how far
the education programme has come and to recognise the hard work of our members
and committees that have shaped the course to ensure it is always relevant to
today’s ironmongery professionals.â€� 

The Guild’s education programme has?been
running for?more than?50 years, training future generations of architectural
ironmongers to British and European standards.?? 

This year’s?GAI Education Awards?is?sponsored
by?ASSA
ABLOY opening solutions. 

To
book your tickets to the 2019 GAI Education?Awards, visit the GAI website. 

www.gai.org.uk