Businesses celebrate success at inaugural Town Centre Business Awards

Rochdale Ambassador, Cathryn Dolinsky of Greggs with award sponsors Pauline Journeaux & Keith Swift of Rochdale Online

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The inaugural Rochdale Town Centre Business Awards took place last night, Wednesday 5 September, at the China City restaurant. The event was organised by Rochdale Town Centre Management (RTCM) in partnership with Rochdale Council.
 
The awards were held in an effort to recognise excellence in customer service. Each nominee for the nine awards was assessed in seven areas between May and June by mystery shoppers.

As the hundreds of guests arrived at the venue, they were greeted by circus performers and magicians, as well as hosts and dancers in fancy dress from local theatrical companies including M6 and Skylight, a drinks reception; the restaurant decorated with magnificent table settings and balloons.

As the guests took to their seats, Gary Gifford, the host for the evening introduced the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Peter Evans, who enthusiastically outlined the importance of such an event, saying: “The fact that this event has been held shows such confidence in the towns businesses. Here in Rochdale we are on the threshold of significant regeneration and the people here tonight are going to have a head start on that. I applaud Town Centre Management for launching this initiative.”

Next to take to the stage was Chief Executive for RMBC Roger Ellis, with the Leader of Rochdale Council, Councillor Alan Taylor and MP for Rochdale Paul Rowen. Each of the speakers congratulated the guests on their achievements so far, Roger Ellis commenting: “We are aiming to be one of the best in the country in terms of customer service, and tonight is the first step for that.” Paul Rowen MP added: “Those of you that are here are a success and a credit to Rochdale; I am proud of our town and the businesses are a huge part of that. We need to celebrate our successes so let’s hope that tonight’s awards are the first of many.”

Councillor Taylor said after the awards ceremony: “This was a fabulous event – from the entertainment to the awards. A special vote of thanks must go to Suzy Woods and the team for organising this hugely successful event. Whilst it is important to work hard to regenerate our Town Centre, it is vital not to forget the traders and staff who play such an excellent role now. These are the people that keep our Town Centre going.  Well done to everyone.”

The awards got underway, the first being 'Best National Retailer.’ The award was sponsored by Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre, and presented by Lorenzo O’Reilly, who is the Centre manager and won by Thornton’s.

Councillor Mohammad Sharif, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, presented the award for Best Service Provider to John Peers Hair Studio. He said: “This was a hugely exciting evening and I know that a lot of work went into it. It is quite clear that traders and their employees have fantastic pride in our town. This was a night to celebrate Rochdale and conveyed what is best about our town. We were delighted that our new Head of Regeneration Penny Sharpe was able to attend and was hugely impressed. I know that she had a great time and is best placed to lead our team and meet the challenges ahead. Bring on next year’s event.”

As guests queued for the delicious oriental buffet provided by the China City restaurant, Mayor of Rochdale Councillor Peter Evans reflected on the first half of the evening: “I think tonight’s festivities are a brilliant method of getting the message across; a way of directly communicating with the businesspeople of Rochdale. Every sector of the town is deprived to a greater or lesser extent and to tackle this problem we are intent in improving employment prospective's for all. This event has proved that we have the foundations with which to do that, and the businesses represented here really do have a dramatic effect on Rochdale.”

During the break there were also various performances by the circus and theatrical acts, both on the stage and around the restaurant. The host Gary Gifford, from ‘Bread and Butter Theatre’ entertained guests with a comedy performance on the stage, complete with fancy dress and a rendition of ‘YMCA’!

The ‘Best Night Time Venue’ award was presented by John Johnson, manager of RMBC Safer Communities Partnership, who had sponsored the award. The winner was The Roebuck, whose manager and manageress Tony Duerdin and Susie Lawrence were stunned to win, saying: “We are absolutely gobsmacked. All our years of hard work have paid off; we’re just lost for words.”

The next award, ‘Best Customer Service’, was scooped by HSBC, whose manager Ivan Wilkes said: “We are ecstatic. We have invested a lot in our new branch and this accolade just shows that people have recognised our efforts. This is the icing on the cake.” Shaun Garrigan added: “We have recently won an internal award within the company and now this proves that we are consistently the best.”

The award for ‘Rochdale Ambassador’ was sponsored by Rochdale Online, and presented by Pauline Journeaux and Keith Swift,  who could not help but break into a quick Frank Sinatra rendition upon taking to the stage! The winner of the award was Greggs Bakery, whose assistant manager, Cathryn Dolinsky,  gushed: “I am so proud of the team at Greggs. We’ve done so well just to be here tonight but to win is just amazing.”

The final award of the night was for ‘Rochdale Town Centre Employee of the Year,’ and sponsored by Rochdale Observer. The winner, Amanda Crowe from Boots was thrilled to receive the prestigious award: “I can’t believe I’ve got an award! I was stunned just to be nominated and never thought I’d be the winner. Now I’ll have to have a think what to spend the prize money on - I just can’t believe it!”

As Ms Crowe rejoined her proud party, manageress of China City Susan Chee commented on the success of the evening: “I am very proud to be hosting such an important event in the community. It is such a nice opportunity and when we were approached by the Town Centre Management, we felt very honoured. I have very much enjoyed seeing all the guests having a wonderful time and enjoying the special atmosphere.”

It would also be remiss not to mention that throughout the evening musical entertainment had been provided by DJ Dave Hennigan, whose brand of tunes provided something for everyone to enjoy and the song snippets he provided as people went up to collect their awards fitted nicely with the tone of the evening.

Paul Rowen MP has since commented on the event: “This was a huge success and I would like to congratulate everyone who organised and attended on the night.  Rochdale is moving forward at a rate of knots and everyone I spoke to was excited about new plans for our town centre. I hope that this is the first of many similar events that promote all that is good about Rochdale.”

Rochdale Online Message Board has been flooded with messages of praise for the awards, with many commenting that the evening proved the fact that Rochdale really is in the process of turning a massive corner.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7598

The event not only served to recognise the good customer service in Rochdale but was also a celebration of the passion that is in the town; and with last night’s successes, it is no surprise that plans for a similar event next year are already in place!

• Click to view more photos of the Rochdale Town Centre Business Awards 2007