Mitie crowns colleague stars of 2024

• Mitie has held its 2024 Recognition Awards event, celebrating its colleagues’ diverse range of incredible achievements over the past year
• The event recognised the winners of its 2024 Mitie Stars awards, some of its longest serving colleagues, its class of distinction achieving Level 7 Leadership apprentices, its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) network leads, and top Apprentices of the year winners
• Special guests Franceschina (Frankie) Romano and June Bearcroft, who are still working for Mitie at 92 and 89 years of age, also joined the celebrations

Mitie brought over 75 colleagues together at its 2024 Recognition Awards event in The Shard this week to celebrate their amazing achievements over the past year. From saving lives and acts of extreme bravery, to championing inclusion throughout the business, colleagues were recognised across five awards: Mitie annual Stars awards, long serving colleagues who’ve marked over 40 or 50 years of service, the latest class of distinction grade Level 7 Senior Leader apprentices, Equality Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) Network Leads, and the winners of Mitie’s Apprenticeship Awards.

The event also honoured special guests, Franceschina (Frankie) Romano and June Bearcroft, invaluable members of the Mitie family who are 92 and 89 years old respectively and have been working as Cleaning Operative’s on Mitie’s contract with Essex County Council for over 20 years.

Mitie Stars

The winners of this year’s Mitie Stars were awarded cash prizes, with first place taking home £10,000, second place £5,000 and joint third place £2,500 each. This year’s winners are as follows:

First place – Victoria, Security Officer

In June 2023, Victoria, a Hospital Security Officer showed exceptional courage and dedication when a group of criminals abducted a baby from a hospital ward. Victoria swiftly intervened, putting herself between the abductors and the child despite being physically assaulted. Although the group managed to escape initially, Victoria’s quick response enabled the police to track and apprehend them, reuniting the baby with its mother. First prize is a fitting reflection of the sheer heroism of Victoria’s actions.

Second place – Osman, Area Relief Officer, Omer, Security Officer, and Faiz, Security Officer

Exceptional commitment to their roles was also shown by Osman, Omer, and Faiz, who were first respondents to the scene on hearing there was a person with a knife at their workplace. Aware of the potential threat, they made themselves visible throughout the building, secured all entrances and reassured those in the area. Their quick actions working as a team to protect those in their immediate care, while simultaneously communicating with the authorities and security teams of nearby buildings led to the arrest of the individual without any injuries. Their teamwork and professionalism not only set a high standard for handling such a high-pressure and complex situation but also showcases the importance of working together.

Joint third place – Nadia, Security Officer, and Ricky, Water Service Supervisor

Security Officer Nadia found herself in a challenging situation when she discovered a man attempting to take his own life. With courage and compassion, she swiftly intervened to save his life. Having trained extensively for this type of critical moment, Nadia remained calm and composed, establishing trust and communication with the man while providing crucial first aid. Her quick response and sensitive care resulted in the individual being led to safety, highlighting the power everyday heroes can have on mental health awareness and preventing tragedy.

Also demonstrating exceptional support and care, Ricky, a Water Service Supervisor went above and beyond to look after a team member who collapsed on site. Despite being away from site, Ricky arrived speedily at the scene and reassured the individual throughout the ordeal, even staying with them for three hours while they waited in the ambulance. Ricky showed true understanding of the traumatic nature of the event and what it means to go the extra mile to support colleagues during challenging times.

Long Service recognition

Along with the Mitie Stars, Mitie also celebrated some of its longest-serving colleagues who have committed most of their working life to Mitie and continue to be an integral part of the Mitie family. The event honoured 17 devoted colleagues who reached over 40 or 50 years’ service, each collecting £400 and £500 vouchers respectively as a thank you for their loyalty and dedication.

Level 7 Leadership apprentices

Over the past year, a class of 18 Mitie colleagues eager to develop their skills took on the challenging 12-month Corndel & Imperial Business School Level 7 Executive Leadership Programme, specifically built to enhance the skills of ambitious managers, leaders and executives. Remarkably, every single colleague from this cohort achieved distinction in their course and were awarded certificates for their achievements.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) network leads

Certificates were also presented to all the leads and deputies of Mitie’s ED&I networks for their unwavering support and dedication to promoting inclusivity across their respective networks, on-top of their regular day-jobs. Mitie has six dedicated networks to support and empower colleagues from all different backgrounds, which have contributed significantly to its progress in ED&I. These networks include CHORD (its race and ethnicity network), Mitie Women Can (its gender equality network), Proud to Be (its LGBTQ+ network), Mitie Military (its Armed Forces veterans, reservists and family members network), Enable (its network dedicated to disability and neurodiversity related topics) and Parents & Carers.

Jasmine Hudson, Chief People Officer, Mitie, said:

“Our annual Mitie Stars event is always an amazing opportunity for us to acknowledge the excellence of our colleagues, but this year we wanted to spread this even further, recognising the great work of even more of our colleagues. These colleagues embody what it means to be Mitie, from incredible levels of bravery and professionalism, unwavering commitment to their jobs, and championing equality. They should all be very proud of their achievements, and I’m thrilled that we could all come together to celebrate them today.”