Three Bangor professionals had much to celebrate having recently completed their Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) Professional Qualifications.

Amongst the 42 candidates from various organisations throughout Northern Ireland, Next Store Manager, Wendy McCluskey received her Certificate for the Intermediate Diploma in Human Resource Management along with Jaclyn Young and Duncan Morris of the Department of Finance & Personnel who both received the Foundation Certificate in Human Resource Practice. The glittering Awards night was organised by Bangor-based CIPD Centre, DMS Ireland.

This year’s Awards event was an extra special occasion as DMS celebrated its 15th year as a Centre for the CIPD in Bangor. DMS has worked with over 1000 individuals on CIPD qualifications and has achieved Band 1 Centre Status making it a Top Performing CIPD Centre. Lynn Carson, Managing Director of DMS Addressed the audience: “Our vision is to make a difference and I hope that we have achieved this with yourselves with progression in your HR/L&D careers and adding value to your organisation. It is becoming more and more important for our candidates that we provide flexibility with the delivery of our programmes. We continue to encourage reflective practice and in turn embedding continuous improvement for the organisation.”

Karen McMillan, Client Development Director of CIPD, attended the DMS Awards to represent CIPD Headquarters in London congratulated everyone attending. “Encouraging people to join the profession is absolutely vital so I’m pleased to see so many high calibre professionals graduating this evening, and delighted to report an 18% growth in the number of new student members in 2014 coming into CIPD membership, a level of growth that suggests the future of the profession is bright.”

Karen continued: “The changing nature of work, the workforce and the workplace continue to put people issues at the top of the agenda for all of us, for governments and organisations alike. This creates great opportunities for us Professionals here tonight, but also challenges us to step up, to more confidently engage in debate and strategy at the highest levels, and to bring more insight and understanding about the people issues that should guide business decisions.”

Sponsors of the DMS awards 2014 included: Diamond Recruitment Group, Health Assured, Employers for Childcare, Hallmark Solutions, Pinsent Masons, Capita, University of Ulster Business School, Core Consulting, Tricord and Morrow IT Solutions.

Wendy McCluskey (centre), Store Manager of Next Plc Bangor, receives her Intermediate Diploma in Human Resource Management from Lynn Carson (left), Managing Director of DMS Ireland and Donna Parker (right), Regional Manager of Diamond Recruitment Group, Sponsor Partner for the DMS Awards 2014.