Go For Gold!
The Golden Service Awards 2009
KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* and the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA) are delighted to announce the launch of the Golden Service Awards 2009. The awards, which offer contract cleaning companies and in-house professionals the opportunity to promote the excellent work carried out by cleaning teams and give them the recognition they deserve, officially commence in February 2009. Entrants have until midday on Thursday 30 April 2009 to send in their applications which will now take place exclusively online, thanks to a new website that is currently being developed specially for the programme.
“Founded in 1991, the objective of the Golden Service Awards is to acknowledge and reward top quality cleaning work by cleaning professionals working for contract cleaning companies and those working in-house,” said Michel Le Borgne, Marketing Manager, UK & Ireland at KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL*. “We are thrilled that every time we host the awards we add something better to the programme and this time round it will be the online application process that will save companies a lot of time and effort,” Michel added.
A number of prestigious sponsors are on board once again for the 2009 event including:
- JohnsonDiversey Inc., who have renewed their Gold sponsorship from 2007.
- Cleaning & Maintenance magazine (C&M), The British Cleaning Council (BCC) and The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc), Ambassador sponsors since the Awards began.
Award categories
There have been a few changes to the awards this year. Chiefly, all categories are now open to both contract cleaners and in-house teams. Secondly, there are now fifteen categories as follows:
- Best Cleaned Premises – Educational Establishment (schools, colleges, universities).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Public Sector Buildings (excluding offices).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Healthcare Establishment (hospitals, care establishments).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Retail Outlet (supermarkets, department stores, shopping malls).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Manufacturing (factories, processing plants, power generation stations).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Transport (airports, rail/bus stations, ferry terminals).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Hospitality (hotels, restaurants, catering, leisure).
- Best Cleaned Premises – Offices below 15,000 sq.ft.
- C&M Best Cleaned Premises – Offices above 15,000 sq.ft.
- The KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* Cleaner of the Year – For excellent performance by a cleaner.
- The BCC Site Supervisor of the Year – For excellent performance by a site supervisor.
- The Health & Safety Award – For companies who have taken significant steps to improve Health & Safety in the workplace.
- The JohnsonDiversey Environmental Awareness Award – For companies who have taken significant steps in their treatment of the environment.
- The BICSc Industry Training Award – For cleaning service companies with excellent innovative training strategies that give consideration to national training policy and provide quantifiable benefits to both organisations and individuals.
- New! Service Delivery Innovation of the Year – For cleaning service companies that can demonstrate successful management innovation in the delivery of cleaning service leading to improved customer satisfaction.
How to enter
Companies will be able to apply for the Golden Service Awards online at www.goldenserviceawards.net/uk from February 2009.
Who can enter
The Golden Service Awards are open to all segments of the cleaning and support services industry in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Any small, medium or large contract cleaning company or an in-house cleaning team can enter and it is important to note that the awards are judged not on the size of the business, but on the quality of the service provided.
The judging process
“Innovation, staff management, training and client relationship are among the main criteria which will be assessed,” said John Stinton, Company Secretary at the British Cleaning Council. “The awards provide a benchmark for quality and a means of identifying an organisation as a leader in the field,” John added.
Whilst KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* started this initiative and has always been a patron, it believes that it should not judge and therefore engages an outside organisation to appoint independent professionals. Additionally, companies do not have to be a customer of KIMBERLY-CLARK PROFESSIONAL* or registered with any trade associations to enter the Golden Service Awards 2009.
Judging is carried out by an independent panel of experts from the cleaning profession and sponsors are not permitted to judge. At each Golden Service Awards, a new judge is added to the panel and one retires.
Initial judging is based on the entry form submission. From this, a number of finalists are selected in each category. These are visited by a judge and only one is responsible for each category so that all in that category are equally assessed.
The Golden Service Awards ceremony will take place on Friday 30 October 2009 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. Over 650 members of the industry and press are expected to attend.
Sponsored by:
Full details of the programme and online entry will be available from February 2009 at www.goldenserviceawards.net/uk. For more information in the meantime, e-mail: gsa@suzannehowe.com or call: 08000 192 422.
