Kelly Richardson from South Western Ambulance has won the coveted title of South West PA of the Year in the awards scheme staged by Swindon Business News and its sister titles.
Kelly, who has worked with deputy chief executive/executive director of finance Jennie Kingston since 2008, was nominated by fellow PA Joanne Payne.
Joanne said of Kelly: “The role is incredibly demanding and Kelly really gives it her all, working very flexibly to ensure that every need of Jennie’s is met, meaning that she often works late to ensure that Jennie has what she needs, when she needs it.
“Kelly is also a key part of our team of PAs and can be relied upon to for support or assistance. She is always there with a smile.
"Kelly goes above and beyond a PA's typical responsibilities – writing strategic and performance-related finance papers, supporting senior managers within the wider finance team, acting as a relationship manager with contacts internally and externally to smooth the way and ensure they feel engaged and informed at all times, and generally keeping the team functioning as it should."
Kelly received her PA of the Year trophy at an awards ceremony at prestigious Ston Easton Park Hotel, near Bath, which backed the PA of the Year Awards.
The runner up was Lisa Fairbarn from Swindon recruitment firm Aligra. She was nominated by director Mark Neilson. Lisa has worked for Mark for a total of 17 years – including five in the current job.
Mark said: “Over these 17 years Lisa has shown a continuous commitment to meeting and exceeding the goals of our company while employing her talents in the exceptional execution of her job. Lisa is the kind of employee we all hope to get when we decide to hire someone. Not only is she professional but she works very well with her co-workers and through her example encourages them to be better. She is able to work under difficult, high pressure situations and still attain excellent results.”
The Best Event Organised by a PA Award went to Maria Fuller of Teleperformance, the Bristol-based world leader in outsourced multi-channel customer experience management.
Maria, who has been in her role for 18 months, was nominated by director of commercial sector services Adam Gould.
Adam said: “Maria has very recently managed a hugely-successful and highly-unique company event, which included global VIP attendance, global travel co-ordination, an offsite all day meeting with private dining and overnight accommodation. Followed by a further day’s itinerary with a site tour of our Bristol headquarters and our Moon Street operational site.
“The event was not without its challenges! The chairman of our organisation requested the event took place on Monday May 27 and Tuesday 28 – this was a bank holiday weekend! While Maria did advise the chairman’s office, in Miami, that this was actually a UK bank holiday, the company chairman had limited availability, so it was not possible to postpone the meeting or his visit to the UK. We were advised to press ahead with the event co-ordination.”
Challenges included the fact that external suppliers and catering companies were generally closed and the firm’s Bristol site was running with a skeleton staff.
Maria also had to recall all UK board members to join the meeting with the global chairman, including one who was on holiday in Turkey – Maria arranged flights and transfers to get him back to Bristol.
Adam added: “Maria found solutions to all of these issues, thought through all problems logically and methodically and produced a meticulously planned Itinerary.
“She sourced food items from the US, sourced specialist chefs and designed and commissioned a bespoke gift item with Bristol Blue Glass. She also sacrificed her bank holiday Monday to manage the event.
“The VIPs were extremely satisfied, very appreciative and the meeting and the site visit were productive. An excellently-planned and organised event.”
Swindon Business News and its sister titles including the recently-launched WestBusinessNews magazine, launched the PA of the Year Awards last year to recognise the often unsung heroes of an organisation. A steadying influence during challenging times, PAs are professional, reliable and pivotal to an organisation’s success. Yet they often go unrecognised.
The judges for the awards were Sue Cook of the Institute of Administrative Management, who presented PA of the Year Award; Angela MacAusland of AMPMPA, who presented the runner up for the PA of the Year Award; and Ruby Jaffer of Professional Event Services, who presented The Best Event Organised by a PA Award.
The awards are open to PAs from clubs, associations and the public, private and third sectors.
