Birchall Foodservice named Lancashire Employer of the Year

A high-flying foodservice company has added another top accolade to its trophy cabinet – this time for the way it looks after its employees.

Burnley-based Birchall Foodservice won the Red Rose Employer of the Year award at a prestigious ceremony held at Blackpool Winter Gardens on March 10. They beat five other finalists from across the county to be named the best employer in Lancashire.

Sales director Louise Birchall said: “We are over the moon to have won this award. A happy and healthy workforce is a vital component of any business and we strive to ensure that all measures possible are put in place to aid the welfare and career development of our team.

“We pride ourselves on our staff training policy and have many long-serving employees who have worked their way up through the business into management positions.”

In addition to the company’s policy to promote from within and provide ongoing training for its staff, Birchall Foodservice has also taken a keen interest in promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace.

The company’s move to larger premises last year enabled them to build a staff gym with separate male and female changing rooms with showers. Twice-weekly fitness classes for staff are held in their training and exhibition centre and bike racks have been installed in the car park to encourage cycling to work. A group of employees are currently taking the ‘Couch to 5k’ challenge.

The business, which recently won Burnley Business of the Year, is also a keen advocate of healthy eating and has installed vending machines in the staff canteen selling fresh sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes, which are re-stocked on a daily basis.

These measures were enough to convince the Red Rose Award judges that Birchall Foodservice was a worthy winner. They said: “Birchall’s commitment to their staff was evident in the organic development of family values that steer the business.

This is a company that enjoys developing its people both inside and outside work.”