smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Winners of the British Quality Foundation’s 2006 UK Business Excellence Award, were treated to an exclusive ceremony at London’s Park Lane Hilton last night.

This year’s winners included an SME, St Anne’s Primary School in Derry, which was chosen by an independent awards jury for it’s outstanding performance and sustained competitiveness.

Previous winners of the UK Business Excellence Award include Rolls-Royce and Siemens. Winners can reportedly expect to benefit from the emergence of new customers, new business opportunities and improved customer perceptions.

With 540 pupils between four and 11 years old, including special needs children, St Anne’s Primary School showed ‘outstanding innovation in its teaching methods’, providing new ways of catering for special needs. For example, children from the impaired hearing unit are integrated into classes with other children, encouraging respect and care amongst all pupils.

The judges were impressed by the school’s belief that their primary ‘customers’ are the pupils themselves. They are at the centre of all decision-making and staff work with their families and the community to ensure that each child achieves his or her potential.

HRH The Princess Royal, patron of the British Quality Foundation, commented: ‘In today’s world of challenge and competition, it is tremendously rewarding to be able to recognise role model organisations from all sectors of the UK. The Excellence Model is a framework that can be applied very successfully in any organisation – from small education establishments to large multinational corporations.’

For more information on how to enter, visit the BQF website by clicking here.

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