Tong Garden Centre celebrated last year’s success at its first ever awareds evening at a Leeds hotel
Around 130 of the184 work force attended a dinner and disco at The Marriott, where staff received awards.
Organised by Tong's People and Culture team, the event was the first in what will be an annual event designed to celebrate the values and behaviours that underpin the business.
Throughout 2019, staff nominated colleagues as monthly Values Award Winners in the six categories of Team, Excellence, Honest, Responsible, Accountable and Positive. The management team then selected the six overall champions.
The awards, presented by Tong's chairman, David Stanhope, were won by:
Monika Arabuka from Marketing, voted the ‘Team' values champion for showing support to colleagues in her own and other teams.
Victoria Kinder-Naylor from Grass Hoppers indoor and outdoor play, voted the ‘Excellence' values champion for always giving 100% effort and leading by example.
Natalie Hope Smith from the Restaurant, voted the ‘Honest' values champion for taking complete ownership of training the team to deliver exceptional afternoon teas.
Chancey Woodrow from Garden Sundries, voted the ‘Responsible' values champion for thinking of solutions to make things better for the team and being a pleasure to work with.
Charlotte Quinn from the Food Hall, voted the ‘Accountable' values champion for taking ownership in difficult situations and always taking pride in her work.
Jamie Maxwell from Customer Services, voted the ‘Positive' values champion for being great to work with and always finding a way to get the job done, even in trying circumstances.
Tong's Head of People and Culture, Neil Barwise-Carr, said: "We had a fantastic evening celebrating the business's performance over the last year and rewarding everyone in our team for making that success possible.
"As we grow, and look to open new sites in the future, embedding a culture built on our values becomes even more important and we're proud to recognise and reward the team's outstanding contribution - congratulations to our fantastic Values Awards winners for helping to make Tong a great place to work."
Pictured above and on cover page (left to right): Values awards winners Victoria Kinder-Naylor, Monika Arabuka, David Stanhope, Chancey Woodrow, Charlotte Quinn and Jamie Maxwell Values awards winners at Tong Garden Centre. Missing from the photo is Natalie Hope Smith.