PUTTING the mental health and wellbeing of their staff first has seen Buzzworks land a top hospitality award.

Buzzworks MD, Kenny Blair, was surprised with an impromptu prize giving at the company’s head office in Kilmarnock recently, as Alex Buchanan from CIS Excellence and Kevin Simpson from award sponsor Inspire Catering presented him with the Wellbeing in Hospitality Award for 2020.

Twelve colleagues completed a certified course at Ayrshire College which provided participants with an understanding on a range of mental health issues, including how these affect people and how to support them.

Hospitality Action is Buzzworks’ charity of the year and the company subscribes to its Employee Assistance Programme which provides staff with access to impartial advice, support and services 24/7, free of charge.

Kenny said: “Providing a positive working environment and company culture for our team continues to be an ongoing commitment for us all – so it’s great to be recognised as an industry leader for wellbeing initiatives.

“At Buzzworks we value every voice and while our venues were closed during various lockdowns, we went to great lengths to keep our teams engaged. By hosting internal online events and encouraging charitable activities we enabled our people to feel connected to each other, the business and their local communities. Activities included fitness challenges, our not-for-profit Lido Pop Up and donating 40,000 meals in Ayrshire through Centrestage.

“We are thrilled to receive this award, it recognises the hard work and dedication of all of our people.”

Buzzworks is currently searching for more than 30 new recruits to join its kitchen teams across Ayrshire venues visit www.buzzworksholdings.com/careers to find out more about hospitality jobs available.