The team at Idlewells is celebrating a double award-win and a commendation, following a successful night at one of the retail industry’s most coveted events, the SCEPTRE awards.
The SCEPTRE Awards recognise “best practice and the best people in the shopping centre industry”, with a particular focus on management teams, retailers and suppliers who clearly demonstrate excellence in how they operate and engage with customers.
This year’s SCEPTRE Awards were held on Tuesday 23rd November at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel, with the judging panel made up of a number of high profile business people from the world of retail including Simon Lewis – Group Managing Director of Lewis Business Media, and Caroline Main – a senior commercial property manager with almost 20 years’ experience in the management of shopping centres.
Businesses from across the UK competed in 15 categories including Community Initiative of the Year, Customer Services Team of the Year and Christmas Campaign of the Year.
Idlewells was named as a winner in the Sustainability Initiative of the Year category as well as the Operations Manager of the Year category in recognition of our Operations Manager, Ian Pratt.
Ian was recognised for his ability to continually innovate and input into a wide range of areas from energy consumption and sustainability, to marketing and commercialisation, while the Sustainability Initiative of the Year was secured thanks to Idlewells’ sustainability policy which focused on people, planet and profit. The policy has resulted in a reduction in electricity consumption of 30% within 12 months across the centre – with this SCEPTRE award coming shortly after business won a Green Apple award in recognition of its focus on general waste reduction, recycling and energy reduction.
Alongside the two wins, centre Manager Chloe O’Donnell was also highly commended in the Young Achiever of the Year category following her work to make Idlewells COVID secure in response to the pandemic.
Speaking after the awards night, Chloe was delighted with the accolades received by the centre and recognises how much of an achievement it is for Idlewells to be a winner on such a stage.
“We’re very much a community-focused shopping centre which prides itself on being an integral part of the fabric of Sutton-in-Ashfield. We’re passionate about doing things right and being the best at what we do – and I think these awards recognise the hard work and dedication of our team,”
Chloe continues, “I’d like to say a big congratulations to Ian for his win – he represents our ethos of innovation and hard work and he thoroughly deserves to have his name in lights. I’d also like to say a big thank you to the wider team at Idlewells, without whom we wouldn’t be taking home the Sustainability Initiative of the Year award or receiving a commendation for Young Achiever of the Year. Everything we achieve is a team effort and I’m over the moon with the result against some of the industry’s toughest competition.”