Tourism managers from across the South West celebrated their successes at an award ceremony on 29 March in Exeter 2011 as the Tourism Business Excellence Programme reached its conclusion.
The Tourism Business Excellence Programme was developed by the Tourism Skills Network South West and South West Tourism in partnership with the British Quality Foundation (BQF), TQMI and Beacon South West. The aim of this innovative programme was to help tourism businesses across the South West improve their business performance and for this to be recognised through accreditation in the Committed to Excellence (C2E) Programme.
C2E is managed in the UK by the BQF and is an internationally-recognised accreditation scheme for organisations beginning their journey towards excellence. The successful tourism businesses will all receive their C2E certification at the awards ceremony on 29 March at the Abode Hotel in Exeter.
TQMI delivered the programme's workshops on C2E and the BQF delivered workshops focusing on areas such as business change and generating customer loyalty. Beacon South West provided some inspirational speakers (including Peter Farquar, Managing Director of Dorset Cereals and Steve Fudge, Managing Director of Fudges) which gave real benefits to the businesses. Participants then ran three business improvement projects within their organisation.
Angela Malyon of Coombe Farm near Tiverton, was delighted with the results of the programme: "It was fantastic to see all the hard work of the last few months come together and genuinely put into action, making for a much better organised work place for all of us at Coombe. We can genuinely feel the effects of it already - truly brilliant. The course has brought me exactly to where the business needed to be and I am very grateful for all of the support we received."
Catherine Escott of Exeter Cathedral said: "The Dean is over the moon with the outcome and we will definitely keep it all going."
Fiona Houchin of the Tourism Skills Network South West said: "The response we have had from the businesses involved has been fantastic. Providing tourism businesses with tools which enable sustainable continuous improvement during such difficult economic times has been very rewarding. The South West is such a brilliant place to visit and stay, and this programme will go towards giving visitors a memorable experience and the region a thriving tourism economy."
The Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday, 29th March 2011 at the Abode Hotel Exeter
The Tourism Skills Network South West was established in 2001 by Destination Bristol through a South West of England Regional Development Agency initiative to promote the productivity and business competitiveness of the tourism sector in the South West.
Businesses participating in the Tourism Business Excellence Programme:
Alveston House Hotel ,Julie Camm
Bickleigh Mill ,Fiona Collier
Birchill Farm, Simon & Margaret Mathews
Buckland Tout Saints, Gemma Balaam
Coombe Farm Woodlands, Angela Malyon
Edward Jenner Museum, Sarah Parker
Exeter Cathedral ,Catherine Escott
Garden House, The at Lilycombe Farm Jane Clayton
Hatherley Manor, David Runciman
Hedgehog Corner B & B, Joy Raymond
Hembury Court ,Robert Persey
Larkbeare Grange, Charlie Hutchings
Lower Coombe Royal, Susi Titchener
Model Farm Country House, Dave Young
National Trust, - Brownsea Island, Emma Stokes
National Trust, - Member Promotion, Paula James
National Trust, - West Dorset, Helen Mann
Old Oaks Touring Park, Tara White
Oxenham Arms Hotel, Mark Payne
Painswick Rococo Garden, Paul Moir
Primrose Valley Hotel ,Anna Pascoe
Rock House Cottage and B & B, Alison Ainsworth
Salcombe Harbour Hotel ,Jason Parry
Seeking's Self-Catering, Suzie Howe
Studley Grange -
Butterfly World and Craft Village, Tony Miller
Surfing is Therapy, Ben Ridding
Treasure Trails Gloucestershire, Rachel Butt
Trevilley Farm, Errol Warman
The Valley, Julie Horsfall
Watershed Media Centre, Amy Joce
West Dorset Leisure Holidays, Martin Cox
Westcott Farm Cottages, Sylvia Herbert
Wild Futures, Liz Tyson
Willow Tree Barn, Yvonne Joyce-Midgley
Winford Manor ,Tracey Beck
Woodland Lodge Holidays, Chris Pym
Woodovis Park ,John & Dorothy Lewis
Yew Tree House ,Anne Fox
Committed to Excellence (C2E)
Based on the EFQM Excellence Model, Committed to Excellence (C2E) is an internationally recognised accreditation scheme for organisations beginning their journey towards excellence. It has a three-stage process with an emphasis on helping you to understand your organisation's current performance, and to make prioritised and lasting improvements in line with your organisation's objectives.
C2E is part of the EFQM's Levels of Excellence programme which provides a proven route towards the attainment of the highest levels of performance for any organisation, regardless of location, size or sector. It was created to motivate and encourage systematic improvement, and to demonstrate to an organisation's people, suppliers and customers a progression and maturity in excellence.
The British Quality Foundation (BQF)
The BQF is an independent, not-for-profit corporate membership organisation whose mission is to help organisations to learn from best practice, improve performance and achieve sustainable excellence.
Contact:
Deirdre Makepeace, Marketing & Communications Support
dmakepeace@swtourism.org.uk 07768 573969
Date added: Tuesday 29th March 2011
Latest updated: Thursday 8th March 2012
