Leeds, UK February 2007 - Luminary Solutions has received a UK National Training Award, a prestigious prize recognising a first class approach to in-house staff training and development. Luminary, already acknowledged as an Investor in People, was formally presented with one of just five sponsored national awards at the black tie ceremony at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel.

The National Training Awards are the United Kingdom's number one accolade for businesses and organisations that have achieved lasting excellence and success through training and learning.

Formed just three years ago as a bespoke software services specialist, and now employing more than 30 technical staff, Luminary has expanded rapidly by developing what it describes as a "unique systemic learning culture" where teaching and learning are integrated into company life.

"Our primary need was to support sustainable organic growth from day one," said founder director, Neil Warnock. "Technology and practices are evolving rapidly and we believe the only way forward is to embrace continual learning and knowledge sharing - not only between staff but also with customers."

To this end, Luminary designed a flexible framework with over 60 "assisted self-teach" modules at its core. These are prepared and delivered by a network of training mentors drawn from subject matter experts within the company, and cover company philosophy, technology foundation, technology specialism and personal development. Training is delivered through multiple channels including an initial induction programme, "boot camp" away days, end-of-month presentations and workshops, and company weekends, as well as ad-hoc and scheduled individual training events.

"We are a people business dedicated to two things: staff development and making our customers successful. Everything else follows. We use technology to create business solutions, and we believe passionately that by equipping our people with this lifelong learning framework, we will continue to excel."

And this isn't just Luminary's view. The New Technology Institute has provided external training and advice to Luminary. Sarah Pennock endorses the approach:

"Luminary has training at the very heart of the business, with an enviable progression path for all employees that starts from day one. Having seen Luminary grow quickly, with exciting projects being won through new sales development, we have seen proof of their investment in training being key to real success."

Luminary works in close partnership with its customers and internal processes are clearly visible to them. Steve Barker, IT Director for DS Ltd, sees a direct link between Luminary's commercial success and its approach to training and staff development.

"Luminary has a unique approach to training and an enviable service delivery culture. Last year we engaged Luminary to help us with a major complex software project, and three of my own staff went through just part of their internal training programme. We now plan to further enhance our own training modules, procedures and standards with several of Luminary's. What's more, Luminary has encouraged this on the basis that it will make DS more successful in serving its customers. That's what I call good service. For such a young company, it is already very mature and enjoys many benefits from carefully designed vocational raining --- both culturally and commercially."

Luminary was singled out for a sponsored award by The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the leading professional body for human resources, training and development professionals. Victoria Winkler, Learning and Development Adviser at the CIPD, said:

"This is an excellent example of a business using training to really make a difference. Luminary was able to demonstrate a strong link between training and business growth, and customer feedback is exemplary. This is a really impressive success story."

About Luminary Solutions

Luminary is a systems integration company that combines existing corporate systems to produce new, integrated applications using both .NET and J2EE architectures. Luminary has three key areas of service - the provision of Corporate Performance Management systems and expertise, support and development of existing applications, and the provision of specialist services to Ingres customers in conjunction with Ingres Corporation.

Website: www.luminary.co.uk