MHR Wins at the British Training Awards 2026 for People First Experts Programme

The British Training Awards celebrate organisations and individuals who are making an outstanding contribution to learning and development. This year's awards received a record 423 entries from organisations across the UK, with winners announced at a celebration event in Covent Garden, London.

Our winning submission showcased how People First Experts is transforming the way MHR develops expertise across our customer-facing teams.

Building genuine expertise

As People First continues to evolve through regular product releases, our consultants, project managers and customer-facing colleagues need more than product awareness - they need deep, practical expertise that enables them to confidently support customers.

To meet this challenge, MHR created People First Experts: a structured, three-tier learning programme designed around learning science and real business outcomes.

The programme takes colleagues from foundational product awareness through to advanced practitioner capability, combining self-paced digital learning, live virtual sessions, software simulations, workplace shadowing, real customer scenarios and practical assessments.

By embedding our Content team directly within product development sprints, new learning materials are created and released alongside every product update. Over the last 12 months alone, more than 500 learning assets have been delivered in parallel with 24 product releases, ensuring colleagues always have access to the latest knowledge.

Delivering measurable business impact

People First Experts has delivered significant results across the business, including:

• Reducing consultant upskilling time by 50%, from three months to six weeks.
• Reducing basic product queries reaching Product teams, allowing experts to focus on more complex customer challenges.
• Achieving a 4.5/5 learner satisfaction score across a comprehensive 60-hour programme.

The programme demonstrates that investing in deep, applied learning creates tangible value for both employees and customers.

Speaking about the awards, Nate Harwood, Founder of New Possible and the British Training Awards, said, "As we navigate a profound industrial shift, organisations equipping their people with new skills are actively building tomorrow's economy. The British Training Awards celebrate the visionary teams and individuals driving this transformation. Congratulations to all our Winners, Highly Commended and Finalists."

Anton Roe, CEO at MHR added, "This award is a fantastic recognition of the investment we've made in developing our people. As our technology continues to evolve, it's essential that our colleagues have the knowledge and confidence to help customers get the very best from People First. The People First Experts programme demonstrates what's possible when learning is treated as a strategic enabler for both our people and our business. I'm incredibly proud of everyone who contributed to this achievement."

This award reflects MHR's ongoing commitment to developing our people, enabling them to deliver exceptional customer experiences and ensuring our learning strategy continues to evolve alongside our technology.