Month: September 2020

Hello, and welcome to the September Issue of the Westgrove Colleague Newsletter.

Revo Ace Awards – WINNERS!

We are delighted to announce that Westgrove scooped the prestigious ‘Top Soft Services Provider UK’ accolade in this year’s Revo ACE Awards which is an amazing achievement!

Revo ACE awards recognise the best in class, rewarding the people and places offering the very best experiences in the retail sector. The Top Soft Service Provider UK award recognises that our centres had the highest scoring averages across all the categories for customer service and facility standards.

We also had three short listed centres in their own categories – St Johns Shopping Centre in Liverpool, Community Centre, Market Place Shopping Centre in Bolton, Regional Centre and Handforth Dean Retail Park, Retail Place with St Johns and Market Place going on to win their categories. Well done to them!

It has been a tough few month for all our centres and colleagues which makes this award a real boost and shows that our commitment to service excellence gives real results.

Last chance for R&R submissions – 30^th Sept

We have already received lots of nominations for the Quarter 3 Reward & Recognition Awards with many colleagues going the extra mile in this challenging times.  There will be lots more worthy entries out there so make sure you enter your team or a colleague before 30th September.

Entries can be submitted online on Our Colleagues Reward & Recognition page.

Access HR – Now Available to Book!

Following the success of the first ‘Access HR’ sessions, we are excited to announce further dates for all Westgrove colleagues to book an online appointment. 

The sessions are an opportunity for colleagues to book in a date and time to have a private one-to-one with a member of the HR Team through video conferencing to discuss any non-urgent queries.

The dates to book your personal HR session are below. If you would like to book a time please contact hr@westgrove.co.uk and include the following;

• Chosen date and preferred time
• Confirmation that you are able to use Zoom or if you require an alternative arrangement

A member of the HR team will contact you directly with the exact time of your session, joining instructions and any other information. On the day of your session you will receive an email from HR providing you with a Zoom link.

Sessions are approximately 10 minutes long and the team will endeavour to answer all of your questions. Should this not be possible, and we need to investigate your question in more detail, then a further session will be arranged.

Please see below a list of the dates and times available for October.

• Thursday 1st October @ 12noon – 2pm
• Tuesday 27^th October @ 8am – 10am
• Wednesday 28^th October @ 4pm – 6pm

Our Volunteering Policy

Westgrove is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the communities where we work and live.  Volunteering allows you to connect with your community and make a real difference.  It can benefit you as much as it can benefit your chosen cause.  If you want to volunteer for a cause close to your heart, then check out the Westgrove Volunteering Policy for more information. 

Westgrove have committed to 5 colleagues taking 3 paid volunteer days each annually.  These days will be paid and will not affect your allowance of holiday.

For further information please refer to our Volunteering Policy, HERE.

eLearning – Don’t forget your essential courses!

Please can all colleagues ensure they have completed the latest eLearning courses on the following subjects:

• Coronavirus Awareness
• Cross Contamination Control
• Conflict Resolution

eLearning can be accessed via the Our Colleagues page on the website.   

There are also further resources available via the Retail Trust website including how to deal with difficult customers and managing anxiety.  Both of these short user-friendly courses will give you some really good guidance.

Retail Trust & Suicide Awareness

September hosts World Suicide Awareness Day. In the UK in 2018 someone took their own life every 81 minutes. retailTRUST have put together resource to help people recognise when a friend, family member or colleague is suffering from mental ill health. Anyone can make a difference to someone else’s life.  Click here to access the resources.

retailTRUST is our free and confidential well-being support portal which is always on hand to support all Westgrove Colleagues.  You can use the online portal to create your personal toolkit, or call or email the retailTRUST team for further advice and support.  retailTRUST is available 24/7. 

• retailTRUST are there to support you throughout your life:
• You can access emotional support if you are experiencing difficulties
• Increase your awareness about a range of health and well-being issues
• Progress your career through tools and training
• Develop key life skills
• And apply for financial help during times of need

Click here to find out how retailTRUST can support you.

We are delighted to announce that Westgrove scooped the prestigious ‘Top Soft Services Provider UK’ accolade in this year’s Revo ACE Awards which is an amazing achievement!

Revo ACE awards recognise the best in class, rewarding the people and places offering the very best experiences in the retail sector. The Top Soft Service Provider UK award recognises that our centres had the highest scoring averages across all the categories for customer service and facility standards. 

We also had three short listed centres in their own categories –

·        Community Centre: St Johns Shopping Centre, Liverpool

·        Regional Centre: Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton

·        Retail Place: Handforth Dean Retail Park

with St Johns and Market Place going on to win their categories. Well done to them!

It has been a tough few month for all our centres and colleagues which makes this award a real boost and shows that our commitment to service excellence gives real results.

Knife crime has been continually on the rise since 2014 and ensuring the safety of our colleagues and the general public is top of the Westgrove agenda. 

Recently some of our team attended Knife Crime Awareness Training to boost their knowledge and understanding of the dangers surrounding knife crime and how to react in, and to a threat. 

The course was designed to give:

•  Better understanding of threats

•  Increased awareness of how assumptions can lead to people being at risk

•  Awareness of the need to know how to communicate

•  Awareness of the need to know emergency plans and key actions to reduce threat.

The course was met with enthusiasm to learn and as a result the team have come away with greater understanding and the skills they need to perform their role.  In this new way of socially distanced learning, the course was run online and the team embraced it and praised the fantastic presentation.  We’re rolling out the course to more colleagues over the coming months to ensure all our teams have the skills and knowledge needed to perform their role and to act against knife crime.

Our intrepid explorer and Brand Ambassador Alex Staniforth completed his epic Three Peaks Run on Sunday 30th August on Snowdon in the most gruelling of his many exploits to support mental health exceeding his fundraising target, raising over £10,500 for his organisation
Mind Over Mountains which offers support and well-being advice.

Attempting to break the current record of running up, down and between Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike and Snowdon, Alex completed the 450-mile run in 9 days 12 hours and 51 minutes, missing his target by just 1 hour. This was an incredible feat, amounting to the equivalent of two marathons a day.  This is despite a number of setbacks before he’d even started the run on Ben Nevis on Friday 21st August.

Alex said “even getting to the start line was a challenge with a sprained ankle 3 weeks beforehand”. 

“The support and generosity along the way was truly humbling and it was great to bring people back together after the recent months of lockdown. My physical battle may be over now but for many with mental health issues the battle is only just beginning and I really hope this run will inspire and encourage people to seek help – I’m delighted to have hit my £10k target for Mind Over Mountains to make those miles count.”

You can find out more and support Alex here.