Leading social housing and maintenance repairs provider, Mears, has received recognition for its community support and spirit by winning the Croydon Council's 2008 Award for Developing Croydon's Future Citizens.
Mears Responsive Repairs team at Croydon beat off strong competition from an impressive line up to win the 'Developing Croydon's Future Citizens' category.
"Mears has worked tirelessly to improve the opportunities for young people in local schools to learn a trade in construction and/or building, giving up their time to develop training days for pupils and provided support for teachers," explains Jon Rouse, Chief Executive for Croydon Council.
"The team has shown a strong commitment to the borough and its young people. As a result of their hard work, the council now benefits from more people taking apprenticeships in the building trade - an area Croydon is currently experiencing a skills shortage."
Receiving the award, presented during a ceremony hosted at the Hilton, Croydon, by Jon Rouse and actress and comedian Meera Syal was, according to the team: "a real honour".
"Supporting the communities within which we operate is an integral part of the Mears culture," says Mark Soffe, Mears Croydon Branch Manager. "Whilst we have an extensive nationwide community-based programme, working with children and young adults is particularly rewarding. To receive the award though, has been the icing on the cake and Mears looks forward to continuing this positive partnership with Croydon Council next year!"
Croydon Council launched the awards in 2007 when its corporate management team made the decision to invest in its staff for the continued development of excellent and outstanding customer service.
"I am convinced that in recognising and rewarding our employees we develop a greater culture of 'proud to serve'," continues Rouse. The celebration of finalists in this year's Croydon Council Awards is the first step on this particular route. We have endeavoured to include our partners and contractors and we are grateful for their support and sponsorship. The real winners, of course, are our customers who will undoubtedly receive greater customer service, whilst the support from companies such as Mears provides a new collective approach to serving our community." ENDS
About Mears Mears Group is the leading social housing repairs and maintenance provider in the UK and has a growing presence in the domiciliary care market (delivered through Careforce). In addition, Mears has a strong presence in mechanical and engineering through Haydon. The company employs more than 5000 people to maintain, repair and upgrade people's homes and conduct work to improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people in the UK. Mears focuses on the provision of social housing within the community sector and carries out more than 3,000 repairs each day to 500,000 houses nationwide. It provides domiciliary care to over 13,000 people per year. With a forward order book of over £1billion, Mears has secured long-term contracts with Local Authorities and Registered Social Housing Landlords. Issued on behalf of Mears Group by Montpellier PR. For further editorial information please contact: Philip Hick, email: phil@montpelliergroup.com or Lisa Pringle, email: lisa@montpelliergroup.comMontpellier PRTel: 01242 262 977