Saima Asarah B & Q Great Service Award and £5,000!

Date published: 22 November 2005


Twenty year old BTEC Retail and Distribution student Saima Asarah (of Rochdale) was over the moon when she found out she had won the national B & Q Great Service Award 2005 bagging £5,000 worth of vouchers! Saima currently works as a Checkout Operator at the Oldham Superstore but is moving to start at B & Q Sandbrook Park in the next few weeks. She was commended for her excellent Customer Service skills after unknowingly serving a series of mystery shoppers. Up until October this year, Saima had won three regional heats with prize money of £200 overall, before winning the Great Service award at the beginning of November. She has worked part time for the company for the past three years, working alongside her elder sister who accompanied her to collect her award.

B & Q flew Saima and her sister down to Southampton where she was presented with her award on 5th November, at a ceremony in the 5* Devere Grand Harbour Hotel. Four other lucky employees from across the country also won the £5,000 award, of which Saima was the youngest and the only female! At the ceremony, famous Illusionist Paul McKenna entertained the prize winners and GMTV’s Lisa Roberts presented the awards. The trip was all the more special as Saima celebrated Eid on the same day she received her award!

Saima who is also the class rep for the student council at College, credits the Customer Service module of her course, taught by tutor Barbara Travis, saying it really encouraged her to give excellent customer service and developed her skills. Saima hopes to move on to the University of Huddersfield after finishing her course at Hopwood Hall, as the College has forged links with their successful Transport and Logistics and Retail departments

Saima said “A lady came into the store asking about laminate flooring so I helped her out. Then my manager received a report about me saying that I had been nominated for a regional prize, which then turned into a national prize of £5,000 worth of vouchers. And they are not B & Q vouchers either! My family, tutors and classmates are so happy for me. I really like working for B & Q and am glad that they felt I worked hard enough to win an award. After I have finished my studies, I would like to go into a Management role. The whole experience has been amazing. The ceremony was so fantastic, I felt a little overwhelmed. I kept calling my Mum and my Auntie on the phone to tell them what was happening!”

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