The winner of the Edexcel "Strongest Link" competition, held in October 2001 at the CIPD National Conference & Exhibition in Harrogate, was David Scaife, Personnel Manager for the UK's largest telemessaging company, The Message Pad.

"Edexcel - The Strongest Link", the fun-packed touch-screen quiz, formed part of the launch of the new Edexcel BTEC Award and a suite of four NVQs in Call Handling that conform to the recently released industry standards. The quiz offered a prize of an adventure day out for two and was a great success. It will be a feature at future Edexcel exhibitions.

The Message Pad has recently presented their first NVQs in Customer Service and Business Administration to staff and, after an initial pilot at two of their call centres, they are looking to introduce Call Handling NVQs across the remaining nine centres. The NVQs are achieved through assessment, normally by on-the-job observation and questioning, to demonstrate competence in the workplace, and are recognised as an important tool for training within employment.