The 2008 "Best People Development Initiative" was awarded to the Commercial Awareness and Practitioner Programme (CAPP), developed in partnership with Logica and the Defence Commercial Function. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s awards celebrate and reward excellence in the field of purchasing and supply management, and are selected in competition across government and industry.

The award was accepted by Mr Amyas Morse, Commercial Director, Ministry of Defence , Pauline Winter, Sponsor Defence Commercial Function responsible for the development of CAPP, Peter Wilson, Director of Da Learning and Norman Baldwin a Director from Logica.

The judges said that due to overwhelming number of entries and the quality of the submissions selection was a challenging but extremely rewarding process. As far as the  CAPP was concerned the judging panel commented "Through a strategy that enabled a wider community to access training in commercial awareness, the MoD has clearly demonstrated benefits, both in terms of financial savings and significantly raising the awareness level in procurement techniques across the organisation."

After receiving the award, Amyas Morse, Commercial Director Ministry of Defence said “I am delighted that this important piece of work has been recognised and would like to record my appreciation to the entire project team. CAPP provides access to commercial training at a number of levels from awareness through to practitioners and delivers a first step to those in the commercial community on the route to professionalism.

Director of DaLearning, Peter Wilson added "I am also delighted that MOD has received this award. Above all else, it is recognition of the innovation and hard work that DaLearning has put in to develop and implement the blended learning approach to training. Furthermore, it is a testimony to the excellent partnering relationship that exists within DaLearning between MOD and Logica."

Logica's Director, Norman Baldwin, also commented, "this award is recognition of the strength of the Setting Your Own Agenda e-learning strategy that Logica put in place for DaLearning and its ability to realise significant tangible benefits through it. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into transforming how training is provided by DaLearning and to receive this accolade from CIPS has made that effort all the more worthwhile. I would like to thank everyone involved in the development of the elearning strategy and this particular programme for making it such a success."

Defence Acquisition Learning is a division of the Defence College of Management & Technology within the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, and provides acquisition training to UK MOD civilian and military personnel, Industry and other Government departments. DaLearning is a prime example of a successful partnership between MOD and the Private Sector, with Logica providing a fully managed training service to support the MOD’s drive for continuous development of acquisition skills and behaviours.

DaLearning offers a wide range of courses covering the key functional areas of Programme & Project Management, Commercial Practices, Supply Chain Management (Air), Logistics, Category Management, System Safety, Lean Management, Requirements Management and Quality Management, along with other subject areas.

DaLearning has centres located in Andover, Bath, Bristol and Wyton. The central hub is located in Admiral House, a purpose built training centre located on the outskirts of Bristol close to DE&S Abbey Wood. Training is delivered at each of the satellite centres and also increasingly at customer locations where demand exists.

• For further information on this programme, please visit www.dalearning.org.uk