A homegrown business which dates back to 1876 and now employs 500 people celebrated in style after receiving two major awards on the same day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sewell Group enjoyed a royal breakfast with the monarch\u2019s representative in East Yorkshire as the Lord Lieutenant presented the Queen\u2019s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A delegation from the company then travelled by executive coach to London to make their sixth appearance in The UK\u2019s 100 Best Companies to Work For Awards, this year being listed at 45.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HM The Lord Lieutenant, Jim Dick OBE, said: \u201cThis is one of those moments when we give an award to a company which absolutely deserves it. I know from working with Sewell Group in other ways that promoting opportunity is in your DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou help people develop and it\u2019s fantastic. This is an award from the monarch and there\u2019s no higher award than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr Paul Sewell OBE, Chair of the business which he joined in 1978, said: \u201cThese are the sort of milestones which make you realise how far you have come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had never won a Queen\u2019s Award before and although we\u2019ve been very successful in the Sunday Times Top 100 over the last 14 years, we are now in the large company tier. We\u2019ve grown the business in terms of adding new disciplines and geographically and this tells us we are going in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had a lovely morning and a great night but then you wake up and it\u2019s the next morning and you have to reset and go again. We don\u2019t rest on our laurels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sewell Group rolled out the red carpet at its headquarters in Geneva Way, Hull, to welcome the Lord Lieutenant, Vice Lord Lieutenant Christopher Oughtred, the High Sheriff of the East Riding of Yorkshire Jacky Bowes and the Leader of Hull City Council Cllr Mike Ross. The guests of honour also included over 50 Sewell Group employees drawn from across every business in the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord Lieutenant revealed he had won two Queen\u2019s Awards as a member of the senior management team at Smith & Nephew in Hull. The Vice Lord Lieutenant also won a Queen\u2019s Award with the William Jackson Bakery in Hull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord Lieutenant said: \u201cThe awards had a big effect on our business. In terms of credibility of the company, it certainly helped sales and it\u2019s great for staff morale as well. It comes from the monarch. It\u2019s very prestigious and should be seen so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Dick presented the group with a Queen\u2019s Award trophy and an official citation signed by Her Majesty and Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister at the time the honour was announced in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Dick said: \u201cIt\u2019s a very significant moment and I would like to congratulate all of you because I know the way that Sewell Group works. Everyone is important in getting this award. It\u2019s the team that all make Sewell Group the company that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul added: \u201cIt sets the bar and we are now judged by that bar, as a Queen\u2019s Award holder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are united behind the principle that talent is spread equally within our community, but opportunity isn\u2019t and we have a great team here because they come from very different backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust because you have had a disadvantaged start in life it doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t get to the top and if you are given the opportunity your duty is to pass that opportunity on to others. It\u2019s not a do-good thing, it\u2019s a business strategy and when you see the people you know it\u2019s the right strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul and the Lord Lieutenant were joined in stage by Emily Jones, Retail Manager at Sewell on the go, and by Dieter Franks, Construction Site Supervisor, as other colleagues followed the proceedings on a live stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dieter said: \u201cOne of the main things that attracted me to come into the company was the award. When I came for the interview, I was looking into the award and what Sewell Group does in the community and how they work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emily added: \u201cI\u2019m really touched that I\u2019ve been invited here as it\u2019s such a special occasion. I know everyone back at our site is watching the live stream and celebrating. We have flags flying and it\u2019s really nice for customers to be able to see that and for them to ask us about it. I work for a place that\u2019s been given an award by the Queen!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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