2009 Remote Worker Awards Winners
In
association with 
The Remote Worker Awards appealed to
hundreds of keen study enthusiasts across the country, and all the categories
proved to be very popular and the judges have had a difficult time short listing
and finalising the winners. The winners in each award category will be announced
at the winning ceremony.
2009 Winning Ceremony
Here is a list of the Remote Worker Award
2009 winners.
11 September 2009
Remote Employment
(www.remoteemployment.com),
the website for flexible and home-based jobs today announced the winners of the
Remote Worker Awards 2009 in association with BT Business.
The Remote Worker Awards
recognise the achievements of people who work from home or remotely and their
employers. Remote and home working can provide benefits not available to
traditional place-of-work employment.
Hundreds of entries were
received for the awards and the judges selected the winners based on the
individuals or companies that demonstrated how remote working had created the
greatest positive impact on their work life.
Mick Hegarty, strategy
and commercial director, BT Business said: “It is estimated that 3.5m people
work from home and BT Business research shows that 55 per cent of the UK’s
employees are working from home more often than they did before in the current
climate."
"These awards highlight some of the best examples of how
remote workers are helping the environment, increasing business productivity and
improving quality of life. The commitment of these fantastic award winners
coupled with technology that enables flexible working means that even more
people can now work in this way and get more out of their working and home
lives.”
The categories and
winners of the Remote Worker Awards 2009 are as follows:
The BT
Home Business Award:
Dean Rhodes-Brandon, Carshalton,
Surrey.
Dean’s company
yourlocalcinema.com is a cinema-listings service for subtitled and
audio-described (narrated) cinema releases and shows, for people with hearing or
visual problems. Dean is profoundly deaf and corresponds almost entirely by
email.
The
Remote Worker Award:
Marieke Guy, Melksham, Wiltshire.
Marieke works for UKOLN, the
University of Bath’s centre of excellence in digital information management.
Marieke became UKOLN’s remote worker champion in 2008 and also works to improve
working conditions for other remote workers.
The Home
Worker Award:
Karen Reyburn, Airdrie, North
Lanarkshire.
Karen manages the European
division of a global organisation RAN ONE Europe entirely from home. Her
motivation for entering this award is to let others see that life doesn’t have
to revolve around a job location.
The
Freelance Consultant Award:
Derek Pattenson, Watford,
Hertfordshire.
Derek set up Small Office
Solutions in the mid ‘90s, to help people working from small or home offices
with IT. As technology developed Derek was able to work from home himself,
connecting to clients’ systems remotely.
The
Netmums Work From Home Award:
Wendy French, Bracknell,
Berkshire.
Wendy wants to combine her
experience as a textile designer, senior PA and admin and finance officer to
develop a home-based business. Winning the Home Worker Award is the stepping
stone Wendy needs to set up her new business.
The Open
University Skills Award:
Jane Hopkins, Coleshill, North
Warwickshire.
Jane Hopkins entered this award
to take her online business to the next level. Jane has developed
mumsclub.co.uk, a unique business club for mums. An Open University
professional qualification will provide additional skills to further her
business success.
The
Remote Employer Award:
Cuddledry, Nether Stowey,
Somerset.
Cuddledry manufactures and
supplies towels and accessories for babies and children, employing home-based
personnel. It recognises that there are many people no longer able to work full
time in senior roles due to childcare commitments. Cuddledry has used home
working to the advantage of all, demonstrating that home businesses can
significantly exceed financial projections.
The Vivid
Green Award:
Amanda Farren, Coventry, West Midlands.
Ella Announcements was launched
in early 2007 when young mum, Amanda, was looking for a way to stay at home with
her children yet keep working. She had spent the previous year learning graphic
and web design and used these skills to set up Ella Announcements, an online
business offering announcements and invitations for any occasion, focusing on
babies and young children.
The Helen
O’ Grady Special Award
(Helen O’ Grady has decided to nominate
two winners)
Abbe
Martin:
Exeter, Devon.
Abbe’s background in the arts
and drama, love of children and recognition of how they can benefit from a
self-development programme was key to winning this award and a £15k
drama-academy franchise.
Catherine
Prout:
Warwick, Warwickshire.
Catherine’s commitment to
teaching drama has enabled her being awarded the Helen O’Grady Special Award.
Her dedication, enthusiasm, confidence and experience led to the judges awarding
a £15k drama-academy franchise.
Paula Wynne, Founder of Remote
Employment and organiser of the Remote Worker Awards, said: “It has been a
highly rewarding experience to see the wide variety of talented people who
embrace flexible working and seeing just how many companies champion it. It’s
been such a pleasure finding these inventive pioneers.”
The following companies and
their employees were ‘Highly
Commended’:
The Remote Worker
Award:
Adam Wood, Fakenham,
Norfolk.
Adam works for Prior Analytics
in Surrey, as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Consultant and heads up
the department which specialises in providing customer service, support and
helpdesk solutions. Adam prides himself on being the person who drove the
company to implement a remote working policy.
The Home
Worker Award:
Debbie Bird, Aylesbury,
Bucks
Debbie has worked in the parenting and nursery industry
for over five years now editing parenting advice websites. As the current Editor
of Babyworld.co.uk her position has enabled her an insight into how many new
parents, especially women, manage the life changing event of starting a family.
The Home
Worker Award:
Holly Seddon, Sevenoaks,
Kent
Holly is Head of Community
Management at FreshNetworks, and manages a busy team almost entirely from home.
Working for a progressive company that uses social media and online tools to
deliver results for clients, also allows her to use those tools to work
effectively and stay thoroughly involved with the business.
The
Freelance Consultant Award:
Julie Wilson, Farndon, Newark in
Nottinghamshire
Julie set up Sore Thumb
Marketing after working for one company for over 17 years. Her freelance
services provide the perfect flexibility and help companies to accelerate the
rate at which they grow. She has been successful in securing work with Business
Link and in July gave a couple of workshops for small businesses in the area, to
help them market their business in a recession.
The BT
Home Business Award:
Wendy Shand, Tots to
Travel
Wendy’s vision for Tots to
Travel was to develop a range of holiday properties that were both gorgeous for
parents to stay in yet still ideally suited to the specific needs of young
children with a key emphasis on safety. The Tots Team source, visit and vet high
quality self catering properties across Europe to ensure that the properties are
as safe as possible while providing the added extras that allow parents to have
a relaxing holiday.
The BT
Home Business Award:
Amanda Farren, Ella
Announcements
Amanda launched Ella
Announcements in early 2007 when she was looking for a way to stay at home with
her children yet keep working. Crushing the teenage mum stereotype, Amanda has
challenged many peoples perceptions on young parents, being featured in both
local and national newspapers highlighting her success. This young woman has
proved an inspiration to many people, and has created a fantastic life for her
family already with an exciting future to look forward to.
The
Remote Employer Award:
Larry Miller, Chiswick London and David Lister, Hitchin,
Hertfordshire
Achieving Quality Leads thrives
on home workers and remote workers. They use remote working to bring quality
people, who juggle a career and family life, back into the work force. AQL were
cited for this when they received an award from the Prime Minister at Downing
Street for the Best Small UK Company for Bringing Women Back into
Work!
The Open University Skills Award: 3rd
Prize
Sharon Bassett, from Pontybodkin
in Flintshire
Sharon has developed
enjoy-a-ball.com (001) Ltd, franchise sports coaching for children.
Sharon’s biggest goal is for children to enjoy learning in a positive and
creative environment. With her sports coaching business Enjoy-a-Ball she
works with hundreds of children every week and they love to tell her stories.
She wants to bring these stories to life both through coaching and as a writer,
too, so the Open University's Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing is
perfect for that. She would also like to explore a Sports Coaching course.
The Open
University Skills Award: 2nd Prize
Nikki Niven, from Ayrshire in
Scotland
As Local Editor and Ayrshire
Franchisee holder of Mums in Control magazine, this course is a catalyst to
enhance Nikki’s writing skills thus further improving upon the existing high
quality of editorial and advertorial within her publication. Having aspired to
be a Journalist since she was a teenager, Remote Employment and The Open
University have enabled this dream to become a reality.
The
Netmums Work From Home Award: 2nd Prize
Ayesha Siddiqui, Hayes in
Middlesex
Ayesha is full of ideas for a
home business and this award has given her the confidence boost she needed to
set up her new business.
The Netmums Work From Home
Award: 3rd Prize
Karin Joyce, Northborough in Cambridgeshire
Winning
a start up for her own home business will allow Karin more financial freedom and
will give her the challenge she needs to keep growing and make her home business
a great success.
For interviews or more
information, please call 0844 800 8355 or email Paula at Remote
Employment.
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