On March 12th 2021, we celebrated our second annual PREM Ovation Awards. Our teams across the United Kingdom and Ireland joined the online awards ceremony to congratulate our colleagues who have demonstrated excellent leadership, positive attitude, competence, dedication, empathy, understanding, innovation and adaptability – qualities all needed in these uncertain times, more than ever before.
Coincidentally, our awards on March 12th marked one year since then Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s landmark speech from Washington told the Irish public that schools, colleges and childcare facilities would shut until March 29th. At the time, we assumed we would be back to business as usual within a few weeks, unknowingly, the worst that Covid had to offer was yet to come.
A Year to Remember
Our CEO, Jim Murphy, and Group Human Resources Manager, Sarah Marr, welcomed the team to this year’s awards with a recap of the past year. In a time that changed the way we do business overnight, PREM Group needed to prioritise reducing the impact of the virus and its knock-on implications, we looked to our ethos – ‘Do the Right Thing’.
We wanted to stand as a pillar of strength and security to our employees during our migration to working from home. The magnitude at which Covid-19 has affected our daily lives is like nothing we had ever experienced before. For our teams who had to switch quickly to remote working we created solutions for team building, increased efficiency, migrating IT to work from home, online Eureka training (our in-house e-learning software), supportive internal communication networks, ongoing LIFT leadership training, regular company updates and an employee assistance programme, which is free to access for all our team. A number of our properties remained open, providing essential service accommodation. Our teams in these locations adapted quickly and diligently to ensure an environment that adhered to the highest standards in terms of public safety protocols, and at the same time, providing a warm and hospitable experience for all guests.
While our team is seasoned to doing business in person, we had limited time to become accustomed to ‘the new normal’ and the changes that brings with it. We are proud of our teams who have lived up to this new challenge. We know we are stronger for having overcome these challenges together.
Working Through the Pandemic – The PREM Team Story
We asked General Managers and Central Office Heads of Department to recount, with their teams, examples of teamwork that helped them get through the past challenging year. We were blown away with the response received and the investments out teams have made.
Teams interpreted the project differently, resulting in the PREM Team story being an interesting, eclectic mix of collective team reflections and individual experiences since Covid-19 hit in March 2020.
Although it can be hard to put these on paper, we were in awe of the truly inspiring stories across the board from our hotels and central office team. What we saw was true examples of positive attitude, leadership, respect, kindness, adaptability, innovation and resilience. These stories have been collated into an e-book that will serve as a reminder of the challenges of working through a pandemic.
There were many initiatives shared and at the award ceremony, we shone a light on ongoing CSR initiatives.
Ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives
While weathering the Covid-19 storm, our PREM Group teams have worked to create a better community for all over the last year. Just some of the team achievements include –
Sprint Digital – have partnered with Ronald McDonald House Charities Ireland to build a brand new website and provide assistance with their digital marketing. When safe to do so, the team is hopeful to whip up a delicious meal for the Cooking4Families Program.
The Hoban Hotel, Kilkenny – 20 hotel team members have been walking 5km each day to walk the equivalent of the 32 Irish counties in 32 days. Walking will take place until St. Patricks Day, totaling an amazing 3000kms walked between all the team, which is more or less the circumference of the entire island of Ireland! All donations for this fundraiser will benefit the Irish Wheelchair Association and Family Carers Ireland.
Fundraising closes on March 17th – if you would like to make a donation, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be made here.
PREMIER SUITES UK – Our UK team have been cycling, running and walking in the rain, cold and even snow in January. Accumulating a total of 468.4km, all monies raised supported the Hospitality Action HAM & CHIPS challenge.
We continue to support our nominated charity Beyond the Moon, offering families with a seriously ill child the opportunity to enjoy a memorable, cost-free vacation in a child-friendly environment and to spend carefree quality time together, far away from hospitals and treatments.
Ovation Award Highly Commended and Winners
Our Ovation Awards recognise excellence within the PREM UK and Ireland teams for their dedication and commitment to their work.
Congratulations to our winners below and thank you to all our team for the hard work and dedication shown in the last year – we appreciate all of you!
Highly Commended
Danute Jasenko – Aspect Hotel Park West
Darren Looney – Cahernane House Hotel Killarney
Monica Dunne – PREMIER SUITES Dublin
Christina Connolly – PREMIER SUITES Dublin
Dermot Bolger – Viking hotel Waterford
Honora Carberry – Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort
Eimear Nolan – Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort
Amit Gujar – Osprey Hotel
Svitlana Savciuc – PREMIER SUITES Birmingham
Charlotte Broad – PREMIER SUITES Manchester
Sarah Louise Woods – Leopold Hotel Sheffield
Áine Clarke – Central HR Department
Daire Dillon – Sprint Digital
Dimi Kirova – Central Finance Department
Richard Holden – Central Finance Department
Ruth Murphy – Central Finance Department
Chelsea Caffola – PREMIER SUITES Birmingham
Nicole Williams – Cahernane House Hotel Killarney
Linda O’Brien – Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort
Winners
Laura Corrigan – PREMIER SUITES Liverpool
Clement Gleeson – The Hoban Hotel Kilkenny
Breda O’Mahony -Viking Hotel Waterford
Emer Corridan – Cahernane House Hotel Killarney
Veronica Ozores – Hotel Isaacs Cork
Darren Byrne – Tulfarris Hotel and Golf Resort
Alexandru Gherardt Metiu – Osprey Hotel
Laura Cvreck – PREMIER SUITES Dublin
Andrea Wallace – Aspect Hotel Park West
Treda Shotton – Central Office UK
Sarah Corcoran – Central Office Ireland & Premier Business Centres
Louise Barry – Central Office Ireland
