Yet again this month there are some amazing nominations for the Thanks For Your Effort Award.  All of those nominated deserve recognition from all of us for being so fantastic.  Without their efforts our company wouldn’t be what it is.  Thank you to you all for your efforts.

Andy Webster and the staff at the Grimsby Coating Plant.   They also went above and beyond to service customers in normal and out of hours. The team had an order for 140t of Red/Red for two days at the end of March so they knew that they were going to be busy.  Seven trucks were needed with an early start because of the distance of the delivery. Andy Webster sent out a text message to all the collects letting them know that on these two days they would only be serving the collects from 12.00–3.00pm, and the staff were going to come in at 4.30am to give them the head start required.  They also collaborated with Shipping to obtain three trucks from Selby – one from Lincoln and three from JA Barkers.

Frank Kehoe and the Liverpool Docklands Team – Asphalt Operations Liverpool Docklands.  Frank and the team have had operational issues at the Plant and delayed contractor promises – but they all have worked above and beyond. They have worked out of hours and weekends to ensure the customer is looked after. The volumes have increased in April and the staff are pulling out all the stops to ensure this is a successful Plant with great customer service.  Nothing is too much trouble for the team and they are a credit to the business – all are committed to being the best and supplying superior customer service.

Nick Giles – Weighbridge, Forest Wood. There was an incident recently at the weighbridge where a customer was disgruntled that they were unable to load 3 tonne of material for collect. Nick followed 100% correct procedure and checked with the DVLA the legal capability of the vehicle. He offered the customer the material in two separate loads.

The customer was aggressive and threatening towards Nick, who kept his cool, and he dealt with the manner with an excellent level of customer service and understanding. The Driver has since been dismissed but the decision was left with Nick as to whether he wanted to accept an apology from the Company Director and passenger and allow them to return or ban them from the Plant altogether due to our zero tolerance to disrespecting staff. Nick made the decision that he’s happy to accept the apology and continue to supply the company – considering how shaken up he was after the incident, this is admirable.

Ian Hunter, Dove Holes Rail Team Leader.  CEMEX has re-tendered all its rail freight traffic. With consistent under-performance from the existing dominant supplier, a new approach was needed. A new rail freight model is now being implemented with a new Terminal Services Operator appointed at Dove Holes, and the freight and handling split between a number of Operators. Whilst the main contracts start in June, from April we started to introduce providers early to provide additional capacity and get used to a new way of working. This has been massively challenging for Ian and his team on the ground managing not one but four freight operators on site and yet still managing to do this safely and achieving a higher tonnage than last year.