We’re very pleased to announce that we picked up the award for Commitment to People Development at the prestigious Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.
The winners of the Business Awards 2018 were announced at a ceremony at the Hilton Reading on Wednesday (27th June), which was hosted by Olympic swimmer and holder of eight world records, Mark Foster.
The Commitment to People Development award, which was sponsored by BP Collins, recognises companies that embrace learning and development and place their people at the heart of their business.
Vail Williams was acknowledged for its dedication to its employees and its inclusive approach to involving staff in achieving the business’s objectives, as well as creating a supportive culture and fun environment which encourages personal development and a good work-life balance.
David Thomas, Regional Managing Partner for Thames Valley at Vail Williams, said: “We understand that our employees are the backbone of our business. We continually strive to recognise this by providing the opportunities and facilities to ensure they are in possession of the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to perform their jobs to the highest standard, and to feel content while doing so.
“Winning this award means so much to us as we work incredibly hard to support every member of our team, both personally and professionally. We’re very fortunate to have such dedicated employees across all levels whose enthusiasm for our values helps to create a working environment that feels more like a small company, but with the rewards, development programmes and benefits normally associated with a much larger ‘corporate’ company.”
Vail Williams, which has eight offices in the Midlands and south of England, provides a range of training and development opportunities to employees, including in-house courses, external training and each employee has a ‘Value Supporter’ to help them reach their potential.
The property adviser also offers flexible working, a ‘fun fund’ for each region for social events, personal development awards, fruitful office, perkbox, flexible benefits system, and operates the VW Care program (CSR), which recently raised over £14,000 for Naomi House and Jacksplace.
In addition to this, The David Nassif Personal Development fund, which was set up in honour of a previous Equity Partner with a passion for personal development, provides employees with the chance to learn new skills that develop them personally or enhance their lives. These have included cookery lessons, kayaking and a foreign language course.
The latest award comes after Vail Williams was recently named as one of Property Week’s ‘Best Places to Work in Property’ and was awarded the Investors in People Silver accreditation.