St Albans City & District Council’s contractor, John O’Conner (Grounds Maintenance), has won a prestigious local award. The St Albans District Chamber of Commerce Community Business Awards recognise the contribution of business to the district’s community. John O’Conner is the winner of this year’s Corporate Social Responsibility category.
The Award was presented at a special ceremony at Havana in Victoria Street, St Albans on 27 September. John O’Conner faced stiff opposition from other finalists, Barclay’s Bank and The Co-operative Bank.
The company’s community spirited activities include sports sponsorship, actively working with Friends groups to care for local beauty spots and providing dedicated work experience programmes. John O’Conner was the first company in Hertfordshire to work with Job Centre Plus on a special scheme to provide work experience for young people in the district. Of five local young people who had been unemployed for some time, one was given a permanent position with the company, one is on an apprenticeship and two are doing seasonal work. The success in St Albans has been rolled out across the rest of the company’s contracts and they have now taken on over 40 young people across the UK.
John O’Conner was also instrumental in helping the district achieve a gold medal in the 2011 Anglia in Bloom competition. As a result the company was a finalist in this year’s Mayor’s Pride Awards in the Community Oriented Business of the Year category.
The company has also been working hard to reduce its environmental impact, developing management systems to help it recycle more and improve local habitats. It was also the first company in its sector to achieve LANTRA Investors in People accreditation.
Cllr Julian Daly, Executive Leader of the Council commented: “These awards give recognition for excellence amongst local businesses. The hard work that the John O’Conner team puts into their work is impressive. I am delighted to see their community work recognised by this well deserved award.”
Councillor contact:
Cllr Julian Daly, Executive Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources, St Albans City and District Council, Tel: 01582 715645, Mobile: 07775 657200, Cllr.J.Daly@stalbans.gov.uk
Contact for the media:
Claire Wainwright, Principal Communications and Marketing Officer, St Albans City and District Council, Tel: 01727 819572, E-mail: claire.wainwright@stalbans.gov.uk