The Celebration: Excellence celebrated in London Awards
Press release - 22 July 2008
The London Excellence Awards, supported by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI), took place at the prestigious Lords Cricket Ground on the 21st July to celebrate the achievements of organisations committed to quality. An event attended by an array of quality professionals from UK industry, it recognises those companies that actively endeavour to put quality at the heart of business.
This year has seen a number of entrants who are committed to business excellence and have worked hard to place quality at the forefront of their organisation. From whole companies to individual departments, the judges were faced with innovative and groundbreaking programmes which they battled through to find the quality success stories.
"The Awards, open to organisations from across the UK for the first time this year, are unlike other excellence awards programmes as the award categories are based on the fundamental concepts of excellence which are common to all quality systems," said the CQI's Executive Director of Policy and Professional Affairs, Mike Debenham.
One of the most prestigious titles of the evening, UK Quality Leader of the Year, went to Keith Brooker, the Group Director of Policy and Institute Affairs of London Institute City and Guilds for his work in establishing the new City and Guilds Centre for Skills Development and facilitating links between industry and schools in Hyderabad, India.
The Ambassadors' Blue Riband, another sought after award for significant contributions to learning and development with regards to business excellence in the wider community, was this year shared by two winners, 3663 First for Foodservice and Capita - Coal Health Contract and the National Concessionary Fuel Office.
Rose Viggiani, Chief Executive of London Excellence, said: "The Awards have become a representation of all that is good in UK plc and are the perfect opportunity for organisations to show that they are performing to world class excellence standards.
"The standard of entries that we receive every year shows the prestige that our finalists command, and encourages other organisations to make quality and business excellence a strategic objective for stakeholder success."
Based on the European Forum of Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model, which is notorious for its difficulty to accomplish, the awards expand upon these elements to develop the criteria, which the winners are graded on. The Awards themselves have become known for the stringent peer- assessment process with more than 100 people involved to ensure that only the crème de la crème of UK industry walked away as winners on the night.
The Awards, presented by London Excellence in partnership with the Chartered Quality Institute, are a tribute to quality while also providing an accessible forum to meet and mix with the leaders and innovators that are shaping the future of business. The ceremony brings together awards finalists and entrants, as well as organisations engaged in improvement and excellence.
For further information about the London Excellence awards and full details on the finalists, assessors and judges, visit: www.london-excellence.org.uk
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Media Contacts
Shelley Cotterell or Martineé Reid, Ridgemount PR
Tel: 020 8943 9349 Fax: 020 8977 7568
Email: Shelley.Cotterell@RidgemountPR.co.uk or Martinee.Reid@RidgemountPR.co.uk
CQI
The CQI is the only chartered professional body dedicated entirely to quality. With over 12,500 individual and company members worldwide it provides the support and learning to improve business practice.
London Excellence
London Excellence is a not-for-profit organisation whose vision is that all organisations in London and beyond will be recognised as performing to world-class excellence standards.