News & Press Releases
Plus Dane Group has retained its place among the elite of British companies.
The housing association has been reaccredited with the Investors in Excellence Award, an achievement which puts them in the same league as global brands like Siemens and British Aerospace.
To earn the award, Plus Dane had to prove to judges they had exceeded performance targets, improved customer satisfaction rates and further invested in the environment and the neighbourhoods they serve.
Plus Dane’s managing director for Cheshire and Staffordshire, Mike Doran, said: “To achieve accreditation again is a tremendous achievement as this recognises that we are continuing to improve our services and invest positively in our tenants homes and neighbourhoods.
“This sort of recognition could not have been gained without the hard work of staff throughout the organisation who, as the judges recognised, go over and above the call of duty.”
David Teale, Chief Executive of North of England excellence add “The Investors in excellence awards is given only to companies that demonstrate that they consistently provide the very highest levels of excellence and quality. I am delighted that Plus Dane have again achieved this very high standard”
Two members of North of England Excellence have reached the finals of Europe’s most prestigious award for business excellence.
Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and Siemens Standard Drives, based in Congleton, are amongst 13 finalists from the whole of Europe competing in the 2010 EFQM Excellence Awards.
The awards recognise Europe’s best performing companies with an indisputable track record of business progress and improving results. Application is a rigorous process involving a week-long independent assessment.
It is the second time both businesses have reached the European finals. Siemens Standard Drives, which produces drives and electronic control systems, was one of the winners in 2007. LJMU reached the finals last year, after winning the UK Excellence Award in 2008. This year’s finals will take place in Bilbao, Spain on 5 October.
North of England Excellence chief executive David Teale said: “I’m delighted that two members of North of England Excellence have been recognised as amongst the best performing organisations in Europe. In the current economic climate achieving excellence and business efficiency, delighting customers, and delivering ever improving results is more important than ever. I wish them both every success.”
Meanwhile Wakefield & District Housing and Siemens Industry Automation and Drive Technologies have been shortlisted as finalists in the UK Excellence awards to be presented in London on 21 October.
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North of England Excellence are delighted to award a prize to the graduate at Liverpool John Moores University with the highest marks in the Master of Business Administration degree programme. The photograph, right, shows Dave Rusk, Education & Training Director, presenting this year's award to Kerri Traynor, the successful student. Kerri comes originally from Kent and intends to continue her studies at LJMU by pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration – no easy task as a mother of a two year old ! Kerri was thrilled to receive the prize and saw it as vindication of all the hard work she has put in on the course. North of England Excellence wishes her every success in the future.
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For several years, North of England Excellence has awarded a prize to the graduate at the University of Central Lancashire's School of Leisure, Tourism and the Outdoors with the highest marks in the Managing Quality in Service Organisations module. The photograph, right, shows Dave Rusk, Education & Training Director, presenting this year's award to Emma Gough, the successful student. Emma comes from Yorkshire and is currently undecided on exactly how she wants to use her degree but would like her career to involve foreign travel. North of England Excellence wishes her every success in pursuing her chosen career.
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North of England Excellence (NoEE) and the European Centre for Best Practice Management (ECBPM), headed by Professor Mohamed Zairi, have signed a formal partnership agreement to promote excellence and quality across the North of England and to work together on other world wide initiatives. Professor Zairi will continue to be a member of the NoEE Board and David Teale, Chief Executive of North of England Excellence, will join the ECBPM Advisory Board. Welcoming the new partnership David Teale said "Professor Zairi is one of the world's leading experts on using excellence and quality to delight customers and enhance business performance. We have already worked together on the Emirates Government Excellence Award and I know this is a partnership that will make a difference to business performance
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Dave Rusk and Pete Macartney (Pictured) have recently returned from Dubai where they were asked to train 30 assessors for the Emirates Government Excellence Award. For several years, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have managed their own Excellence Awards programme based on the EFQM Model. However, in 2010 the UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa, requested the creation of an Excellence Award for the whole region (there are 7 Emirates in the UAE). Initially, entry is restricted to government departments. The course was a great success, as evidenced by the positive feedback from delegates.
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Andy Burnham MP, is shown presenting the prestigious Investors in Excellence Award to Steve Tickle (Both Pictured), General Manager of Brand-Rex, who were also winners of the North of England Excellence Award in 2009.
Brand-Rex's improvement journey has taken 8 years and the European Excellence Model has been the framework which has guided their progress, supported throughout that time by North of England Excellence.
Brand-Rex, based in Leigh, produce high specification and innovative cabling solutions, particularly for use in hostile environments.
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Pic caption: One North East Chief Executive Alan Clarke (left) receiving the Investors in Excellence Award from David Teale, Chief Executive of North of England Excellence
Businesses in the North East will be given support from One North East to help bolster their commitment to best practice after the regional development agency receives three top accolades for excellence.
The Agency has been awarded the Investors in People Gold Award and been named an Investor in People Champion – becoming one of a select group of role model organisations that will help firms in their respective regions to improve their performance through effective workforce management.
One North East has held the Investors in People status since 2007 and achieved the latest Gold Award after meeting a further 126-point criterion. Now as a champion, the Agency will help encourage other organisations to aim towards achieving the Investors in People Standard through hosting presentations, one-to-one mentoring consultations and open days.
The Agency has also been re-accredited with the prestigious Investors in Excellence Standard, of which One North East was the first regional development agency to be awarded the status back in 2007 and one of only 16 organisations in the North East to have ever received it.
Alan Clarke, Chief Executive of One North East, said: “We are delighted to receive these prestigious awards, as it recognises our commitment and drive for continuous improvement across all areas of the Agency.
“Becoming an Investor in People Champion is a great honour and will enable us to help other organisations in the region to achieve the Investors in People status.
“To be re-accredited with Investors in Excellence status is equally great news and ensures that One North East continues to perform to an internationally recognised quality standard whilst always looking for ways to improve.”
North of England Excellence, the body appointed to spearhead Investors in Excellence in the region, identified some of the Agency’s strongest points as having a committed workforce, clear drive to improve skill levels amongst employees and running effective internal communications. To find out more about Investors in People and Investors in Excellence Standards visit www.investorsinpeople.co.uk and www.investorsinexcellence.org.
You can now follow One North East on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OneNorthEast
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Northern Rail has become the first train operator in the UK to achieve the prestigious Investors in Excellence Standard.
The nationally recognised mark of quality acknowledges Northern’s dedication to continually improving the quality of its operations to benefit customers and employees.
The assessors found that: “Northern clearly embraces the concepts of Excellence and is on a journey to achieve them. There are many good examples of this and further examples of ‘work in progress’ to improve based on analysis of the current and future landscape. Northern actually uses the Excellence model internally and all staff (at all levels) embraces the ethos of the Vision, Mission and Values.”
The Investors in Excellence Standard complements the Continuity Marque awarded to Northern by the North of England Excellence Scheme for the train operator’s commitment to putting in place the right people, resources and plans to deliver a successful, growing railway for passengers across the north of England.
Northern runs 2550 train services every week day and has attracted 34% more passengers since it started five years ago. It has also improved the punctuality of its services from 83.7% when it started to 91% of trains on time in the last 12 months.
Ian Bevan, Managing Director, Northern Rail said: “We’re delighted to achieve the Investors in Excellence Standard. This is testament to dedication of everyone across our business to improve the quality of the service we deliver for our customers.”
Northern Rail has adopted the European Foundation Quality Management (EFQM) model as a basis for auditing activities, processes and results against a recognised benchmark.
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On 16th March 2010, Stagecoach Supertram were accredited to the Achievement Marque of Excellence. The photograph shows Andy Morris (centre) Managing Director, Stagecoach Supertram receiving the award from David Brown (left) Director General of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and Dave Rusk (right) of North of England Excellence.
The award citation mentioned how Stagecoach Supertram have conducted two robust self assessments using the beta plus method and have been successful in translating these findings into improvement action, closely monitored by the management team who show a strong commitment to continual improvement.
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On 3rd March 2010 Stephanie Snaith, CEO of Gradient Consulting, was recognised as North of England Excellence Associate of the Year for 2009-10. North of England Excellence (NoEE) operates a network of 16 Associates across the North and Stephanie was presented with a gift and a framed certificate by Dave Rusk, NoEE’s Education & Training Director.
Presenting the award, Dave commented: "We at North of England Excellence are very grateful for the support Stephanie and her colleagues at Gradient have given us throughout the year. Our members have been appreciative of the expertise, dedication and professionalism Stephanie brings to her work. Additionally, amidst all her hard work, Stephanie also found the time to act as a Lead Assessor for our North of England Excellence Awards."
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Investors in Excellence Standard presented to Cheshire Probation Area
3 March 2010
Cheshire Probation Area were recently presented with the Investors in Excellence Standard. Richard Lloyd-Mullen (client services director for North of England Excellence) presented the plaque and confirmed that the probation service in Cheshire continue to drive further improvement in their organisation and the commitment shown by all the team members is something that the service should be proud off.
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The Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, Rosie Winterton MP, has urged businesses in the region to promote their high standards by entering the 2010 North of England Excellence Awards.
Ms Winterton, who spoke at last year’s awards ceremony, said she was delighted that the 2010 awards would once again be held in Leeds with Business Link Yorkshire as the principal sponsor.
She said: “Right across the North in all sectors there are many inspiring examples of great business practice. We need to celebrate success and I want to encourage applications from the public, private, voluntary and education sectors. Of course as Minister for Yorkshire and Humber, I’m especially keen that organisations from the region apply and I wish them every success.”
Ms Winterton was supported by David Ross, managing director of Keycare, based in Horsforth, and winner of the 2008 Private Sector Award, who emphasised the business benefits. He said: “The awards create opportunities for promotion and PR and are a tremendous way to motivate staff. As applicants also receive feedback from awards assessors, they are an incredibly powerful tool to help you continue to improve and add to the bottom line.”
The North of England Business Excellence Awards are open to private, public and voluntary organisations of all sizes throughout the North. Entrants are judged against the principles of business excellence. Previous Yorkshire winners include Capita Coal Health Contract based in Sheffield, York-based Northern Rail and Wakefield and District Housing.
Organisations which wish to enter must register their interest by 26 February but have until 26 March to submit their entry. The organisers North of England Excellence are also seeking volunteer assessors. The awards ceremony will take place on 14 October 2010 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
For further details contact Pete Macartney at North of England Excellence on 01925 715245 or visit the awards application page.
Back to the top >Notes to editors: For further information contact Pauline Rawsterne on 0161 860 6063 or Jill Hulme on 01298 25246 or email pauline@turquoisepr.co.uk
