Chesapeake Belfast has just been awarded a prestigious European Foundation Quality Model (EFQM) Award. The site secured the top place amongst Northern Ireland’s private-sector companies to achieve a 4-star EFQM Excellence rating. Chris Dears, General Manager of Chesapeake Cartons Ireland, commented on the award, which is the culmination of a year of audits and assessments: “This coveted award provides recognition of the continued hard work and dedication of the staff in all departments working together as a team. It also provides confirmation of the robustness of our products, systems and processes as well as acknowledging the high skill level of our people.” 

The EFQM Excellence Award submission process requires verifiable evidence to be presented covering nine categories: Leadership, People, Strategy, Partnerships/Resources, Products/Services as well as Customer, Business, Society and People Results. The two-phase submission process spanning almost six months was both demanding and extremely rewarding. Alastair White, who led the Belfast EFQM team, commented: “This is a landmark occasion for us. It’s the first time we’ve entered the EFQM Excellence Awards which measures the level of excellence across private and public sector companies as well as health, education and charitable/voluntary organisations. This accolade as the leading private sector company in Northern Ireland is an outstanding achievement especially at our first attempt and we are justifiably proud.”

But noteworthy achievement didn’t stop there: Belfast has just been awarded Investors In People (IIP) Silver rating after yet another in-depth assessment of staff across every area. The assessment was conducted over a week through probing one-to-one and team-based interview sessions. Chris added: “We had hoped to achieve IIP Bronze status but we are even more proud to have achieved Silver. These are all excellent results for us and we are encouraged that these two respected professional bodies have commended us so highly. For both Belfast and Limerick, 2013 was a year of relentless but successful customer, BSI/ISO, Environmental and Health & Safety audits and assessments.” 

Chris added: “I would like to thank the teams from Belfast and Limerick for their continued support to the company through their hard work and professionalism. Our challenge for 2014 is to continue to build on the excellent progress made to date by maintaining a focus on quality, improving our operational processes and further building on our strengths.” The management team in Belfast will now conduct an internal review of these results to determine what other learning opportunities can be established.