District Council receives prestigious awards

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is celebrating after scooping two prestigious awards at the Midlands Excellence Awards Event held at Birmingham's ICC on 3 February 2011.

The District Council was awarded the Most improved organisation and the Highly commended award.

The District Council was one of seven finalists which included, Advantage West Midlands, Experian Payments, Haldex Concentric, Trent & Dove Housing, Walker Thompson, The Wrekin Housing Trust Ltd.

Councillor Stephen Gray, Leader of the District Council says: “It was a very successful evening and is a real credit to everyone at the District Council from staff to Councillors and follows on our success of retaining our Investors in Excellence Standard in December last year."

“We faced some stiff opposition but this is truly a great achievement for a small District Council such as ours and considering all the changes taking place in the public sector at this time.  To be presented with these awards demonstrates that the District Council is committed to continual improvement and managing the current challenges."

In front of more than 1,150 business leaders at the ICC in Birmingham, the District Council was highly commended for showing a clear commitment to continuous improvement and was also recognised as the Most Improved Organisation, based on the impressive progress it has demonstrated since 2008.

As part of its on-going improvement programme the District Council is working with Coventry University to explore opportunities to improve access to services, especially in the rural areas through improved broadband provision, and to support local businesses and improve the offering to visitors through greater use of on-line tools and applications.

Speaking after the gala ceremony, Midlands Excellence Chief Executive Ian Nield said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Stratford-on-Avon District Council and I congratulate them wholeheartedly.

“In today's tough climate, a commitment to excellence can make the difference between failing and succeeding and I'd encourage other businesses to follow Stratford-on-Avon District Council's lead and embrace the concept of performance improvement."

To achieve its highly commended status, Stratford-on Avon-District Council had to produce a detailed written submission which demonstrated its performance against the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model.  The submission was then evaluated by an independent team of specially trained assessors, with results, including a site visit, being provided in a comprehensive feedback report.

Asked why they had chosen to recognise Stratford-on-Avon District Council, the awards jury made the following comments: “The Council has demonstrated great progress since it began its excellence journey. All round performance has improved as a result of the commitment shown by the senior team and the use 'Systems Thinking' ".

Mr Nield concluded: “Every organisation we've recognised has undergone rigorous independent assessment and consistently demonstrated a genuine passion for excellence and performance improvement. An example to all of us, Stratford-on-Avon District Council has earned its place in the Midlands Excellence hall of fame."

Guests at the event were also treated to an inspirational address from keynote speaker Sir Ranulph Fiennes.  The event is Europe's largest celebration of excellence. 

The Investors in Excellence Standard is run by Investors in Excellence Ltd, a not for profit subsidiary of the performance improvement charity Midlands Excellence which has worked with more than 5,000 organisations over a 13 year period.  Working across a wide variety of sectors in the private and public arena, IiE Ltd has a passion for helping organisations improve.

Once companies have achieved the Standard they need to undertake a reaccreditation process every two years to ensure that they are still operating at the same level.

For further information please visit the website: www.investorsinexcellence.org