Festival Place shortlisted for prestigious Sceptre Awards

Festival Place shortlisted for prestigious Sceptre Awards

Festival Place Shopping Centre in Basingstoke has been shortlisted in three categories of this year’s prestigious Sceptre Awards.

Celebrating and rewarding excellence in the shopping industry, the Sceptre Awards put the spotlight on the country’s best management teams, retailers and suppliers.

Festival Place  is vying for awards in the Retail Liaison, Young Person Achievement and Customer Service Award categories.

Shortlisted in the Young Person Achievement category, Paul Sawyer started at Festival Place as Finance Manager, and was promoted to a Senior Manager just a year later.

Paul, 29, has monitored all centre expenditure, ensuring service charge comes in under budget, introduced new tenant packs for all retailers for transparency across the board, and undertakes any opportunities for additional training. He also works closely with local charities, giving up his spare time to take part in events and help with charity collections.

Rachel Moss has been shortlisted in the Retail Liaison category for her role at Festival Place, which has seen her implementing a new retail strategy that highlights opportunities to increase turnover. Rachel has also introduced a mystery shop programme, retailer awards and free retailer training.

Festival Place has always championed excellence in customer service, and its Customer Service Lounge was created to expand the centre’s range of offerings.

During the last year, the Lounge has recorded record levels of Gift Card purchases, introduced additional service delivery training, and partnered with a school academy for young people with learning difficulties to help them prepare students for future employment.

Centre Director Neil Churchill said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted for three Sceptre Awards this year. “This is a huge achievement for both Paul and Rachel, as well as for our superb Customer Lounge Service team. We will be keeping our fingers crossed for the results!”

Winners will be announced at an awards dinner at the JW Marriot Grosvenor House in London on June 20.