South Wales Chamber Awards Winner 2013

A commercial cleaning company based in Llandarcy, near Neath, has scooped the Skills and People Development Award at the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2014, run in association with the University of South Wales.

The Swansea and South West Wales Servicemaster franchise was awarded the prize for its work in staff development. The company, which delivers high quality cleaning services, employs more than 100 people in the area and places strong emphasis on staff development, demonstrated by its comprehensive induction and training programmes and internal promotion policies. Employee engagement is also central to the company’s success with employees given regular one-to-one appraisals and frequent involvement in team meetings to discuss any ideas for business development.

On picking up the award, Jayne Gethin,  from Service Master, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the Skills and People Development Award at the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Awards.
“The quality of our cleaning services depends on the hard work and dedication of our staff. We believe that, because we involve them in every aspect of the business through regular staff meetings and appraisals, we have a very low staff turnover and an extremely motivated team, meaning our clients give us 10 out of 10 for feedback on our cleaning services.

“We take pride in the fact that employees regularly tell the management team that they feel valued because we create an environment where we encourage everyone to be the best that they can be. We’re thrilled to have received this award and it is testament to the whole team at Service Master.”

Graham Morgan, director of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, said: “All of the winners, including Service Master, have performed excellently over the last year in what has been an improving, but still difficult period, for businesses. The standard of entries was, again, extremely high this year, so businesses walking away with an award should be very proud of their success.

“They have all demonstrated that it is still possible to achieve excellence in business despite the challenges of recent years, and their example should help to further strengthen returning confidence in the marketplace in Wales.
“I would like to thank the Faculty of Business and Society at the University of South Wales for supporting this event for another year and everyone who has worked hard to make these awards possible.”

Now in their twelfth year, the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Business Awards reflect the efforts of businesses and individuals throughout the whole of 2013.
The awards took place at The Vale Resort on Thursday 27 February and were presented by Graham Bell, the former Olympic skier turned TV presenter, adventurer and journalist.

Professor Janine Griffiths-Baker, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Society at the University of South Wales, said: “The Faculty of Business and Society at the University of South Wales congratulates all the winners of this year’s awards. We are proud to sponsor the South Wales Chamber of Commerce Welsh Business Awards, not least because the awards have again delivered a high calibre of winners from a wide range of companies across the categories. As ever, the large number of outstanding firms in the running made the process of judging difficult. The businesses winning the awards therefore highlight the continuing excellent activity taking place across Wales right now.”

All winners will now be encouraged to submit entries to the British Chamber of Commerce Awards in spring this year. Welsh businesses have traditionally performed well against UK-wide competition and a number have successfully secured a share of the prize money which has been as much as £50,000. In 2012, research by Paul Jones from the University of South Wales showed that having the Chamber brand alongside a business creates additional opportunities for that business.