The Chief Executive of SummitSkills, Keith Marshall, has been named in the 2008 Queen’s Birthday Honours list and appointed an Officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE), in recognition of his contribution to skills.
The honours list, published this year on 14 June, reflects and pays tribute to outstanding achievement and service across the community and the nation as a whole.
Keith began his career as a weapons electrical engineer for the Royal Navy. His commitment to training started in 1985 when he joined the Engineering Industry Training Board which became the Engineering and Marine Training Authority (EMTA). At the point of leaving the EMTA he was head of standards development.
His work on skills development continued with directorships in both the Training Standards Council and later the Adult Learning Inspectorate. In 2003 Keith joined SummitSkills as Chief Executive where he has successfully led the organisation through its initial licensing in 2004 and, later in 2007, the award of its second contract.
Keith said: “I am delighted and honoured that my contribution to the skills agenda has been recognised in this way. It has made me stop and think, and realise that I have worked in the skills arena for over 20 years – before the days of NVQs! I worked on the first occupational standards in engineering, NVQs and the first engineering Modern Apprenticeship framework. I also chaired my professional institution’s (the IET) training committee and worked with the Engineering Council on the introduction of competence based registration for professional engineers. Later I inspected training provision, and now I am privileged to be CEO of SummitSkills to safeguard the standard of skills in building services engineering.
“I have worked with some splendid people, and anything I have achieved has been in collaboration with others and this honour must also reflect on them.”
