LONDON Midland has earned the Investors in People (IiP) Silver Award, making it one of six train operating companies in the UK to hold the status.

The company has used the IiP programme as a way of improving services to its passengers. Just 5.5% of organisations in England hold the IiP Silver Award, out of 12,418 accredited companies. It recognises the company’s continued investment in training and developing its staff.

Over the past 18 months, employees have undergone a total of 22,000 days of training. HR director Geraldine Goddard said: “This investment ensures that we have the right employees with the right skills. This enables us to improve the service we give to our passengers.”

In 2007 the train operator was awarded the Standard accreditation, before achieving a Bronze status in 2012.

By awarding the Silver accreditation, Investors in People said London Midland had invested in its new starters and training programmes, increased internal promotions, continued to make improvements in people management and improved employee understanding of business goals Paul Devoy, head of Investors in People, said: “Achieving the Investors in People Silver standard is something that any organisation should be truly proud of.

“It is the sign of a company which is very committed to good people management practice and we’d like to congratulate London Midland on their achievement.”

Since 2007, London Midland has been providing train services to and from London in the south, to Birmingham in the Midlands and Liverpool in the north-west. More than 60 million passenger journeys a year are made using the network and London Midland manages 148 stations and operates more than 1,300 services a day.

London Midland is owned by Govia, the partnership between the Go-Ahead Group and Keolis.