The Southampton Region Hoteliers Association are delighted to have begun their planning for the 2022 Hospitality Awards. The annual awards that began in 2018 and could not run last year due to the pandemic, have been designed to seek out the high achievers and teams in Southampton’s hospitality sector.
The 2022 awards will celebrate those who have shone throughout 2021 despite its challenges, and will amplify the best hotels and venues in the city for areas such as customer service, guest satisfaction and market growth.
Members of the Southampton Region Hoteliers Association are encouraged to celebrate the champions of the hospitality industry by nominating staff, colleagues and managers for the 2022 Hospitality Awards when voting opens later this year. Finalists will be announced in winter, culminating in an awards ceremony on 11th February 2022, where the finalists will be revealed.
The Headline Sponsor for the 2022 Hospitality Awards is Radio Taxis. Simon May, Chief Executive Officer, Radio Taxis says, “Radio Taxis wanted to support the Hospitality Awards 2022 because we wanted to help show the outstanding accomplishments and good work the industry achieves on a daily basis. We work closely with hotels to provide transport for their guests and know how hard they work to ensure their guests receive a 5 star service. Southampton’s hospitality industry should have recognition for their regular outstanding service they provide to locals and visitors.”
The non-profit awards will donate a portion of the ceremony ticket sales to the charity FareShare; the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste, by saving food from going to waste and redistributing it to frontline charities. The 2020 awards raised £3,000 for the charity, equating to 12,000 school meals for vulnerable families.
Claire Martin, Development Manager at FareShare South Central said, “The money raised will be used to provide families with food such as fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. During the pandemic children living with food insecurity did not have access to free school meals during lockdowns.
We always see a rise in food insecurity during the summer, it is reported that some children can lose 8% of their body weight during the holidays where they do not have access to free school meals. Imagine the effects the continual lockdowns have had. The money raised at these awards makes a valuable contribution to helping local families.”
During the height of the pandemic Southern Central were redistributing around 60 Ton of food per week, to individuals and organisations. The monies raised has supported this.
Nathan Chart, General Manager at New Place Hotel and Chairman of the Southampton Hoteliers Association, says: ‘’The awards are a brilliant example of collaboration between hoteliers, venues and local businesses, and they are an opportunity to celebrate the people that make the hospitality industry. After such a challenging time, we know the return of the awards will mean a great amount to the individuals and teams that have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. It’s likely to be an emotional but wonderful event.’’
The award categories which can be nominated by the hospitality staff are as follows:
- Lockdown Hero Award
- Lifetime Achievement Award
- Chef of the Year Award
- Community Award
- Top Team Award
- Rising Star Award
- Operational Excellence Award
- Sales & Revenue Award
- Best of the Rest! (this will be decided from all category nominations)
Jo Andrews, Managing Director at The Marketing Collective, Marketing Partner of the Awards, says: ‘’We are thrilled to be working with the Southampton Region Hoteliers Association again as their Marketing Partner for the 2022 Hospitality Awards. The awards have always been about recognising talent in the industry, and it now feels even more important to celebrate an industry that has been rocked so heavily over the past year.’’
