A sell-out audience of 550 people from across the hospitality, leisure and tourism industry attended the Springboard Awards for Excellence 2010 at the beautiful Lancaster London last night (29 November 2010).
Hosted and presented by the acclaimed duo, Anne Pierce, Chief Executive of Springboard UK and The Springboard Charity, and Ambassador and Taittinger Champagne Family Representative Justin Llewelyn.
Dale Parmenter and the award winning drp group scooped the evening's top award - the Chris Beaumont Special Award for their magnificent and sustained support for the Springboard Charity over the last five years staging the production of all of the major events and helping to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Charity. Sodexo and the Hilton Metropole Birmingham scooped up five awards between them while BaxterStorey, Charles Wells Brewery, The Savoy Society and PGL Travel ltd were among the other worthy winners.
The standard of this year's entries was again at an all time high. Anne Pierce, said, "The Springboard Awards for Excellence truly celebrate exceptional initiatives to promote careers, attract talent and deliver best employment practices.
At a time when everyone is facing increasing challenges, awards like ours become ever important to reward hard work, increase morale and celebrate achievement - it costs nothing to enter but the value in getting short-listed, achieving a commendation or winning an award is immense for everyone involved.
All of our entrants, short-listed and highly commended, should be very proud of themselves and what they have achieved. They truly are amazing!"
The award winners on the night are listed below:
- The Springboard Ambassador Award - Amanda Bass
- Best Regional Initiative - Hilton-North of Scotland Cluster
- The Web Award - Bighospitality.com-William Reed Business media
- The Education Award- Hilton Hotel Birmingham Metropole
- The Young People Award - PGL Travel ltd
- Best Student Placement Provider Award - Hilton Hotel Birmingham Metropole
- The Diversity in Employment Award - Sodexo
- Best Initiative to Attract People to be a Chef - Royal Automobile Club
- Best Initiative to Attract People into Management - Merlin Entertainment Group
- Best Employer Award - Park Plaza County Hall
- Best Career Progression Award - BaxterStorey
- The Retention Award - Charles Wells Pub Company
- Best Recruitment Initiative Award - Marriott Meon Valley &Country Club and Portsmouth Marriott Hotel
- The Corporate Responsibility Award - Sodexo
- People Innovation Award - The Savoy Society Mentoring Scheme
- The Chris Beaumont Special Award- Dale Parmenter & The drp group
Sponsors of the Awards were American Express, Brakes, Caterer.com, DANONE waters, drp group, Gauntlet, Handpicked Hotels, Hotel Employers Group, Institute of Hospitality, One and All Foundation, Pearson, Santander Corporate, ThirdForce and 3663.
For further information about the Awards and the candidates, see the Springboard website at
http://events.springboarduk.net/.