Dessert firm wins top community award in Nottinghamshire
The Newark and Sherwood Community and Sports Awards have become one of the regional highlights each September - and at this year’s awards ceremony, on Friday 26th September, local employer Bakkavor Desserts won the 'Business Commitment to the Community' award.
The site at Jessop Way is one of the biggest employers in the area with almost 2,000 colleagues producing thousands of desserts every day for major retailers including M&S, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Morrisons.
For many years, Bakkavor has been committed to supporting the Newark community. The local business has always celebrated the commitment and time of its colleagues, recognising their role as community heroes. The factory has a Site Employee Forum (SEF) where the colleagues organise the community and fundraising initiatives throughout the year for charities and good causes. These initiatives have recently included support for Newark’s Dragon Boat Festival, organising Golf days and completing Marathons. In addition, last summer’s ’Splash the manager’ event saw more than three dozen managers volunteer to be doused in water by their colleagues, with funds raised having been distributed through schools, community and sports groups, housing support and food banks, and this year’s Charity of the year, Newark’s own The Children’s Bereavement Centre.
In addition to its SEF reps, Bakkavor also recognises the passion and service of its longest-serving colleagues, who were amongst those attending the awards evening. An emphasis within the group has always been on Apprenticeships and Graduate programmes to aid both the workforce and the business, alongside support for wellbeing and mental health awareness.
Andrzej Szokalski, General Manager - Operations at Bakkavor Desserts Newark comments: “A massive thank you to the judging panel at The Newark and Sherwood Community and Sports Awards for this honour, which we believe is reflective of the hard work and effort given by our entire workforce. It is so hard to single any one out, and we would like to give congratulations to everyone at Bakkavor in Newark who has supported the work we do in the local community.
As a major employer in the Town, we have always been delighted to support the community but also to recognise the long service and loyalty of so many of our colleagues. We all have a responsibility to help the region thrive, to give something back, and Bakkavor takes tremendous pride in the hard work that this award recognises.”