A HOTEL group has recognised the dedication and commitment of its longest-serving employees with a celebration at one of its landmark venues.
Lake District Hotels marked the achievements of 37 staff members who have been with the company for 10 years or more, with a combined total of 664 years of service.
They were treated to a Christmas afternoon tea at the Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa by Derwentwater, one of six Lake District hotels run by the group.
Staff from all front-of-house departments attended the event, which was the first time the group had held a long service awards ceremony.
Dani Hope, director of Lake District Hotels, said: “We’ve been thinking about holding long service awards for a while now to show our appreciation for the loyalty of the staff and, after the challenges of the past 18 months due to the pandemic, we felt now was the right time to celebrate something positive.
“Our team is crucial to the company. They help to shape the business with their in-depth understanding of how it works and are key to our continued success.
“It’s important to us that people are happy in their roles and our internal promotion structure ensures that they can start at an entry-level and work their way up to management, which is the case with many of the long serving members of our team.
“As a family business, we spend a lot of time in the hotels so we get to know our staff. We also encourage our general managers to look after their teams as if they were family, which makes them feel part of something special.
“We hope to celebrate many more years of long service in the future.”
As well as enjoying afternoon tea, guests at the ceremony were presented with a goodie bag including a silver-plated personalised photo frame to display a professional photo taken on the day.
They also received one or two days of extra annual leave (depending on length of service), an overnight stay with dinner for two in one of the hotels (for those with 15 years or more service), and a thank you card from the directors, which along with Dani includes her parents Kit and Charles Graves.
The group’s longest-serving employee Cath Serginson, who works at the Borrowdale Hotel and has been with the company for nearly 45 years, received several rounds of applause during her presentation.
Neels Ferreira, 46, who is General Manager at The Skiddaw Hotel and has worked for Lake District Hotels for 12 years, was another recipient at the long service awards.
He said: “It’s all about the people, and building relationships with your team and with the guests. We have regulars at the Skiddaw Hotel who will pop into the hotel a couple of times a week which adds to the feeling that we’re part of the community. I enjoy seeing them and meeting new people who visit the hotel.”
