Three Lichfield employees are so good at putting customers first that they have been given a special award for outstanding customer service.

All three work for Midlands Co-operative Society, at the Eastern Avenue offices. Jon Arrowsmith and Lesley Nolan work in Retail Support Services and Richard Palmer is from the Shared Services IT team.

Midlands Co-operative launched the Service Award initiative, now in its seventh year, to recognise staff who know what great customer service is all about and put it into practice.

Nominations for the awards scheme are invited from fellow Midlands Co-operative colleagues and customers.  Those making a nomination are asked to say why they believe the nominee is worthy of an award.  Each quarter around 850 nominations are made.

Ann Breen , HR Development Manager said:

“We are always overwhelmed by the response to our awards and the number of nominations we receive continues to grow year on year.

“Delivering excellent customer service is part of who we are and shows the importance both our colleagues and customers put on recognising those that take pride in their job and go the extra mile. The service awards are about acknowledging and rewarding our colleagues’ fantastic effort and achievement.  They also give us the opportunity to formally recognise good service and say thank you for a job well done.”

Each quarterly Service Award recipient attends a presentation and receives £100 Co-operative gift vouchers, a Service Award certificate and a choice of champagne or flowers.

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.