Staff Excellence Awards – May 2022

Ian Lewis, Campus Security
The nomination was received from Aron Soto, Duty Manager, for the introduction of the Operational Procedure Card initiative that has been adopted by the security team. The system will allow for a quicker response to incidents and will ensure essential information is to hand in the event of a long term power outage.

Antonio Duarte Ramos, Kitchen porter, Rutherford (pictured)
The nomination was received from Geoff Wilcox, Food and Beverage Manager. In appreciation of Antonio’s  strong work ethic and flexibility.   In particular Geoff has highlighted the recent deep clean provided to the Rutherford kitchen. Antonio is an integral and vital part of the team.  Certificate presented by Ben Elsbury, Chef De Cuisine

In awarding  the Staff Excellence Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact all have made to both the Department and the University.

In recognition of the award each recipient will receive a £75 top up to their Kent One card.

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Staff Excellence Awards – April 2022

Julie Gellatly and Hayley Blindell, Housekeeping Supervisors  (Hayley pictured)

The nomination was received from Becky Verlin in recognition of the outstanding commitment demonstrated by Julie and Hayley, ensuring a consistently high standard of cleanliness, which includes additional buildings both are now responsible for.  Becky commented, a number of compliments have been received at Woody’s and the Coop and are as a result of Hayley’s commitment.  Whilst Julie has stepped in to cover staff inductions in addition to providing cover for the Sport areas.

Jenny Martine, Interior Services and Signage Manager
The nomination was received from Laetitia Gullett on behalf of herself and many staff members in MORA for the recent redecoration project.  Laetitia commented that Jenny has gone the extra mile in every aspect of the project, ensuring all members of staff felt included and more importantly happy with all the arrangements. Jenny has demonstrated excellent customer service skills.

Alex Watson, Building Services Engineer
The nomination was received from Martin Jones in recognition of Alex’s role during the recent works to repair the underground high voltage network.  Alex worked closely with UKPN to ensure minimal disruption, which resulted in the area being reinstated in readiness for a crucial University Open Day event.

In awarding the Staff Excellence Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact made to both the Department and the University.

In recognition of the award Julie, Hayley, Jenny and Alex will each receive a £75 top up to their Kent One card.

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Staff Excellence Award – March 2022

Tracey Davies, Electronic Systems Engineer

The nomination was received from Martin Jones as a result of feedback provided by Mark Arnold for Tracey’s response to providing access control during the Jennison EDA data breach.  Both Mark  and Martin Jones recognised Tracey’s professionalism and commitment to the University.

Lindsay Robson, Ben Casey and John Kirkness, Maintenance

The nomination was received from Katrina Dodge, Housekeeping Supervisor in Darwin College for the work  carried out at Darwin College to avert a major loss of heating and hot water.  The team improvised and used their skills to come up with a make shift sleeve pipe wrap that enabled the heating and hot water to function.

In awarding  the Staff Excellence Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact all have made to both the Department and the University.   Trevor Pereira, Director of Commercial Services and Estates presented certificates and all recipients received a £75 top up to their KentOne cards.

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Staff Excellence Awards February 2022

Estates Staff Excellence Awards were presented to Lesley Knox, Training and Development Officer and Teresa Curteis, Head of Traffic Management and Travel.

Lesley was nominated by Chris Wright, Landscape and Grounds Manager. Chris wanted to acknowledge the support provided to enable him to complete his apprenticeship.  In his nomination Chris commented that Lesley is key to the development of staff in Estates and always goes that extra mile for anyone that needs it.

Teresa was nominated by Gary Law, Assistant Director of Estates, Campus Services in relation to her response to storm Eunice, unprompted and whilst on annual leave.  Knowing that there would be travel disruption Teresa was in a position to make contact with travel providers when the weather warning changed from amber to red in the early hours of Friday 18 February 2022 and fed information into the university decision making process.

In awarding  the Staff Excellence Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact  made to both the Department and the University. In recognition of the award Lesley and Teresa will each receive a £75 top up to their Kent One card.

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Estates Staff Excellence Award – January 2022

The Estates Customer Services Team (Bev Braiden, Becky Medlock, Angela Durling and Eli Harnett were awarded the Estates Staff Excellence Award, for January 2022.

The team were nominated by Sarah Cooke, Head of Customer Services and Engagement, in recognition of  the Estates Customer Services team successfully retaining their Customer Service Excellence accreditation for the third year.  The Assessor outlined how the team are clearly empowered to promote and participate in the customer focused culture of the organisation, the assessment confirmed they are now compliant in all 57 areas of the criteria. In awarding the Staff Excellence Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact made to both the Department and the University.

In recognition of the award, Trevor Pereira, Director of Commercial and Facilities Management presented the team with their certificate and each received a £75 top up to their Kent One card.

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Client of the Year SECBE Award 2021

The Constructing Excellence SECBE Virtual Summit and Awards took place on Thursday 1 July and the University of Kent was announced as winner of the Client of the Year category.

These awards recognise and celebrate the very best companies, collaborations and projects from across the London & South-East region. The nomination, submitted by Willmott Dixon, demonstrated their collaboration with the Estates Department on the construction of Sibson, Kennedy and Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS), and highlighted these key elements:

  • The delivery of three vital education facilities that not only fostered cross-faculty learning but took on lessons learned from each building to improve the delivery of the next.
  • Exemplary collaboration between the client, contractor, and the whole supply chain.
  • 74% of the total spend on local supply chain partners, bringing real wealth to the region.

Mark Ashmore, Project Manager in Estates, described how he felt when the result was announced, “It is brilliant that Kent has finally been recognised for its contribution to the construction industry as a great client.  This is an award that all of the Estates Department should be proud of, as it takes contributions from everyone to deliver successful project after successful project.

As a category winner, Kent will automatically go through to the Constructing Excellence National Awards, which will be judged alongside other regions over the summer.

The full SECBE Awards 2021 finalist – University of Kent blog post can be read here: https://www.ce-awards.co.uk/blog-post/441/SECBE-Awards-2021-finalist—University-of-Kent

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March 2020

Graham Pagdin (Maintenance).

The nomination was received from Phil Whittall, Head of Maintenance. Graham identified a trend in failed shower heads for which we have 246 across the campus, often resulting in the shower head being replaced at a cost of £140. Graham sourced replacement parts and is investigating the use of alternative parts moving forward.

In awarding you the Staff Excellence Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact made to both the Estates Department and the University.

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March 2020

Ben Casey and Charlie Champion (Maintenance) – (Charlie has since left the University his award will be posted out)

The nomination was received from Phil Whittall, Head of Maintenance, for the repairs carried out to the blocked WC’s in Cornwallis East. Crispin Woolnough, building supervisor commended both for their tireless, methodical approach to the problem and for remaining professional in an unpleasant environment.

Ben Hadlow and Calvin Froud (Logistics)
The nomination was received from Paul Glover, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research who recognised the exemplary service provided by Calvin and Ben whilst moving 90 boxes to the archives store in Canterbury on a particularly wet day. Calvin and Ben were a delight to work with and nothing was too much trouble.

In awarding you the Customer Services Award the Senior Management Team, acknowledge the impact made to both the Estates Department and the University.

The awards were presented by Ron Moore, Assistant Director of Estates, Maintenance and Technical Services on behalf of the Director of Estates.

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Estates staff news

This blog feed will be used for publishing news and information of interest to Estates staff.

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Kent and Medway Medical School

On 19 October 2020, the University welcomed the first staff and students to the Pears Building, the new home of the Kent and Medway Medical School.  This an exciting collaboration between Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Kent and will offer first-class medical education and research.

Starting in May 2019, the Estates Department worked alongside the building contractor; Willmott Dixon to construct a new 3 storey building.  This new facility provides a 150 seat lecture theatre, seminar rooms, IT suites, offices, social spaces and a GP simulation suite.  The building was constructed to BREEAM Excellent standards.

Photographs courtesy of Willmott Dixon.

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