Sodexo’s stars shine at annual awards

Last week saw more than 600 Sodexo employees gather at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London, for the company’s annual Star Awards ceremony.

Sodexo, the world’s largest services company, has been holding the Star Awards for over 30 years and the event recognises outstanding achievement by Sodexo staff, in all spheres of the company’s activities. The winners included Becky Couch who beat over 35,000 employees to win the 2013 Star Employee of the Year Award.

Meanwhile, the coveted Alan Tilley Award went to Bridget Peeroo, who works as a prison officer at Peterborough Prison. Bridget works with vulnerable female prisoners, to not only rehabilitate them while they are in prison but also support them to ensure they can get their lives back together and build new lives once released.

Bridget was chosen by the judges as a result of her modesty and drive in offering fantastic support to the female prisoners that she cares for. Bridget demonstrates all of Sodexo’s three values; through Spirit of Progress she has established networks, information, processes and contacts in the community, setting the standards that others are following; she is a key part of creating Team Spirit with those inside and outside of the company; and her Service Spirit seven days a week, inside and outside of the prison is outstanding and ground breaking.
Commenting on Bridget’s win, the judges said: “She is the epitome of the humility of Sodexo while quietly changing people’s lives for the better.”

The event was hosted by journalist and broadcaster Kate Silverton, and the evening saw the prize-giving being led by UK and Ireland chief executive, Debbie White and corporate affairs director, Phil Hooper. Celebrity chef Alyn Williams was also on hand to congratulate the winners. Musical entertainment was provided after dinner by The Satellites.

The awards are a great showcase of Sodexo’s efforts to recognise truly outstanding people, to whom Debbie White paid tribute: “The Star Awards is the pinnacle of our year because it gives us, as an organisation, the opportunity to truly recognise and thank our people for their hard work and dedication. Every day should be about making our employees feel valued and involved in the progress of our organisation. Every day should be about rewarding people for a good job well done.”