At a lunchtime awards ceremony at the Beaumont Hotel, Hexham on Monday 10 May the winners in the 2010 Young Employee of the Year competition were announced and the awards presented. The annual competition is organised by The Rotary Club of Hexham in conjunction with Hexham Town Council and the Hexham Business Forum with the support of the Hexham Courant.
The competition is open to employees between the ages of 16 and 25 working in the Tynedale area. It recognises the young people in the district who are making an outstanding contribution to their company or organisation and in turn contributing to the successful economic development of the area. The judges, drawn from the Town Council, the Business Forum and the Rotary Club were looking for employees who have a positive attitude to work and achieved good relations with their work colleagues.
This year there was a record number of high quality entries and the judges had shortlisted 6 of the 15 candidates for interview.
The winner of the Jack Charlton Trophy awarded by the Rotary Club together with a cheque for £500 was 21 year old Craig Wallace of Ouston in Co Durham, an electrical apprentice at Egger (UK) Ltd in Hexham.
The winner of the J B Jonas Trophy awarded by Hexham Town Council and a cheque for £250 was 18 year old Alexandra Thompson of Kirkwhelpington, who works for Vita Lend Lease at Hexham General Hospital.
The four other finalists were Ross Bonner of Saunders and Pughe, Corbridge, Carys Laidler of the Co-op in Corbridge, Ashley Shepard of Nicholson Portnell Solicitors, Hexham and Lucy Wilkinson of The Forum Cinema, Hexham.
The awards were presented by Fiona Raglan, co-founder and Managing Director of Dipsticks Research Ltd of Hexham, former winner of the Best Rural Woman Entrepreneur Award and the national Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Also present were The Mayor of Hexham, Councillor Terry Robson and Sandy Rutherford Chairman of the Hexham Business Forum.
Speaking at the ceremony Brian Bell, President of the Rotary Club of Hexham, praised the quality of the young employees who had entered this year’s competition saying that “at a time of economic recession the future of the district’s economy depends on its ability to encourage and develop its young employees. It was important as well to give due recognition to the achievements of these young people. Those we have honoured today, the two prize winners and the four finalists are making an outstanding contribution to the town and the district.”
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