Hospitality Assured Award winners were recognised at a ceremony presided over by Professor Andrew Lockwood, Associate Dean & Forte Professor of Hospitality Management Surrey University, at the Institute’s Annual Lunch held in the Royal Garden Hotel on June 8th
The awards re-launched in 2009 are recognition of the efforts of Hospitality Assured clients in their ongoing quest to constantly improve their service and thereby improve the performance of their business.
The award winners cover a cross section of the hospitality industry. From the traditional hotel and conference centre environments to the less usual and more rarefied environment, particularly on the 45th floor of services at 8 Canada Place Canary Wharf.
Two new categories were added for 2010, Team of the Year awarded to the organisations showing the most improvement in terms of scores awarded and Champion of the Year for the individual, who both leads a team delivering significant improvements in service and business and promotes the benefits of the Hospitality Assured standard encouraging others to implement the standard within their organisation.
The Highest Scorer Overall in 2009 award winner was the Edinburgh International Conference Centre commenting on the award CEO Hans H Rissmann OBE said “Achieving the highest score raises the bar for our industry but more importantly it sets a new benchmark for customer service that all businesses in the hospitality sector can achieve through hard work and the adoption of best practice techniques." A multi- awarded business in the Conference sector given the accolade by the assessors of “an organisation that shows leadership at all levels with a loyalty and pride that is tangible to its customers” the EICC is truly a most deserving winner.
EICC Team
Lilleshall National Sports Centre (LNSC) was the winner of the Highest Scoring Newcomer of the Year 2009 award. Lilleshall is owned by Sport England and has been managed by Leisure Connection Ltd (LC) since November 2000.
In addition to its role in providing training facilities for over 20 different sports, and specialist facilities for elite athletes, Lillieshall provides residential facilities and is home to a number of the National Sporting Governing Bodies (NGB) and is also a Community Centre hosting over 80 local sports clubs. In addition it hosts weddings, conferences, corporate events and functions. Lee Moore, Lilleshall National Sports Centre, General Manager said "We are absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious award and I would like to pay tribute to the whole Lilleshall team for this achievement, which I believe demonstrates our continued commitment, enthusiasm, hard work and professionalism to provide high quality, high value customer focussed services".
At its first assessment in 2009 the staff was described as “having a level of enthusiasm and commitment that was exceptional and matched by the positive comments received from the many means of capturing customer feedback.” No wonder then that it scooped an award!
Lee Moore (Centre) with Professor Andrew Lockwood (right) and Ann Corrigan Managing Director of Hospitality Assured
The Most Innovative Application of the Standard award was created to acknowledge the vision of organisations, that while not generally recognised as offering hospitality in the more traditional sense, understand that the supply of high quality support services is exactly that. In addition they know that adopting an ethos that places the customer, be they internal or external at the centre of the operation raises the quality of the service.
The worthy winner was Facilit8 at HSBC the team delivering Facilities Management Services at the HSBC’s corporate headquarters at Canary Wharf. The services assessed included Housekeeping, Reception Services, Catering Mail and Logistics, Hard Services, and the Fitness Centre. With 9000 occupants and an average of 1000 visitors per day the 500 people involved in providing services under the Facilit8 brand have a large and demanding customer base. Jeff Flaum CRE Facilities Manager and Paula Stevenson General Manager (Interserve), accepting the award on behalf of the team were delighted that the challenge and achievement of creating a unified and customer driven team had been recognised. The team was equally delighted if the applause was anything to go by!
Facilit8 Team at the awards lunch
The Hospitality Assured Team of the Year 2009 award new this year had two winners, so what made two organisations winners? Well both have a varied offering requiring excellent management and leadership skills in addition to their committed and motivated teams.
Lucknam Park is an unspoilt, country house with many accolades, which include AA 5 Red Star Status, 3 AA Rosette Awards, Michelin Star and Visit Britain Gold Award. The hotel is also a member of Relais and Chateau. The scope of the assessment covered all the services offered to guests at Lucknam Park. These include Hotel Services, the Equestrian Centre, the Beauty Salon, the Spa and the Brasserie.
Harry Murray - Managing Director said “I am delighted and extremely proud to receive this award on behalf of the great team we have established at Lucknam Park. I have no hesitation in recommending Hospitality Assured to aspiring managers who want to achieve a consistent quality of service delivery and business excellence. This is a proven procedure with measurable indicators which serves as a validated performance review for all stakeholders”
Harry Murray and team at Lucknam Park
Central Hall Westminster the other winner is a unique centrally located conference and exhibition centre, a concert hall, an art gallery, serviced offices, a Methodist church, a tourist attraction and a public cafe across the road from Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament.
Michael Sharp FIH, Managing Director, commented "It is a real privilege to have been awarded the Hospitality Assured Team of the Year 2009. A lot of hard work and effort went into achieving Hospitality Assured status and I can only thank my team for doing such a tremendous job. This award celebrates their hard work, dedication and above all the difference that the team can offer all of our clients at Central Hall Westminster.”
Michael Sharp and team at the Royal Garden Award Ceremony
The teams at Central Hall & Lucknam Park have raised the bar and the scores to stand out front in 2009!
The Hospitality Assured Champion of the Year 2009 award for the individual identified by the Hospitality Assured team who could be seen as raising the profile of the standard within their own organisation and being noted as promoting the standard to other organisations and bringing others organisations on board.
Ian Seabrook (Centre) with Professor Andrew Lockwood (right) and Ann Corrigan Managing Director of Hospitality Assured
Ian Seabrook Business Development Manager from Stoke Mandeville Stadium and Olympic Lodge Hotel was the proud recipient of the award!
"It is a great honour to accept this award. In two years time the whole world will be looking at the UK for the two largest sporting events on Earth, we will be having visitors from all parts of the world and we have a massive opportunity to leave a positive legacy. Hospitality Assured can give every part of the service industry a firm basis to ensure that each & every visitor leaves our shores with an experience that they will happily remember for the rest of their lives. It certainly has for Stoke Mandeville Stadium."
Left to right Michael Sharp-Central Hall, Jeff Flaum & Paula Stevenson- Facilit8, Harry Murray- Lucknam Park, Lee More-Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Hans Rissman- Edinburgh Internatioal Conference Centre, Ian Seabrook- Stoke Mandeville Stadium and Olympic Lodge Hotel
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