College sparkles at Gatwick Diamond Business Awards ceremony

12/03/2010

Principal Russell Strutt presents Copthorne Hotels with their Award

Black ties and ball-gowns were in order this week, as representatives from the College attended the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards dinner, held on 4th March 2010, at the Hilton London Gatwick. The ceremony, which brought together representatives from some of the best known companies in the area, was hosted by Sir Alan Sugar's right-hand-man Nick Hewer, who is a familiar face to anyone who has watched the BBC TV show 'The Apprentice'.
The Gatwick Diamond sub-region is an area which is home to a vast range of businesses, spanning all sectors of the economy, from household names to niche companies, and from multinationals to sole traders. Principal Russell Strutt recognises the economic importance of the area, which encompases a number of towns including Crawley, Haywards Heath, East Grinstead and Burgess Hill, saying "Employers within the Gatwick Diamond make a significant contribution to the South East's economic success. It is vital that their workforce is equipped with the relevent skills to ensure continuing growth and investment, both for these businesses and for the economy as a whole." The Gatwick Diamond Business Award winners are those businesses or people who have shown innovation and inspiration in their work, and have demonstrated a real commitment to the sub-region.
As category sponsors for the Commitment to Developing People and Skills, the College had been involved in the selection and judging process ahead of the ceremony, and the three shortlisted local businesses for the award were: Copthorne Gatwick Hotels (the cluster of the Copthorne Hotel and the Effingham Park Hotel); Reeves and Neylan LLP, Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors, with branches across Kent, Sussex and Surrey; and Swarovski UK Limited, the world-renowned crystal company, whose UK Head Office is in Salfords.
Copthorne Gatwick Hotels was chosen as the winner of the Commitment to Developing People and Skills category, after the company impressed the judges by managing to "wholly engage its workforce to achieve its business objectives through a comprehensive review process, a commitment to personal development and incentivised recognition programmes." Judges went on to note "Peer training champions in each of its departments help to drive and deliver development and training linked to organisational objectives, with targets translated into meaningful milestones for staff at every level. In an industry renowned for its transient employment, this company has a stable staff with an amazing 43% of them in a post to which they have been promoted, proving their talent identification and development really works!"
Principal Russell Strutt presented the award to a delighted Jane Maguire, Cluster HR and Development Manager and her colleagues. Other award categories included: Large Business of the Year, which was won by Thales; Business Person of the Year, which was presented to John Donaldson, of Arora Hotels Limited; Employer of the Year, which went to Swarovski; and The Green Award for Sustainable Travel & Transport, which was awarded to Go Green Travel UK Ltd - a Crawley based company offering a low carbon taxi service.