Outstanding Customer Service Award Finalists

The Beacon, Whitehaven Reaches the Final in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence

After having won the Excellence in Customer Service at the third annual England’s Northwest Tourism Awards held last October, it has just been revealed that Whitehaven’s Anne Cook and Averil Dawson of the Beacon in Whitehaven, are now in the national finals guaranteed either a Gold or Silver Award.

The award ceremony, which has been described as the tourism “Oscars”, is to be held on the 18th April in London. Both Anne and Ave have worked at The Beacon, Whitehaven since it was opened in 1996. Anne is a keen historian, always willing to go the extra mile to help customers with their research. Ave is heavily involved in the Beacon’s educational activities, recently becoming involved in video conferencing.

As if that weren’t enough, they also travel the county delivering the Beacon’s increasingly popular Outreach Talks, where they take items from the museum collection out to groups at any time, day or night. You will also find them at the reception desk offering visitors to the Beacon a very warm welcome.

The Enjoy England Awards for Excellence recognise excellence in the tourism industry. There are 103 finalists who have won awards for their own regions. Other finalists in the Outstanding Customer Service Category are from Dudley Museum and Art Gallery in the West Midlands and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.

Sue Palmer, Beacon Manager said,

“Both myself and the whole Beacon staff are thrilled that Anne and Ave have reached the final stage. Their enthusiasm and ability to deliver excellent customer service has rubbed off on the rest of the team and we are all very proud of them. They certainly deserve it”

Anne and Ave’s trophy for the regional award, won in October, can be found in the reception area of the Beacon on proud display. They are looking forward to displaying their Gold or Silver award alongside it.

Averil Dawson said

“We are so excited that we have reached the final stage. It is so overwhelming. We are proud to be able to put Whitehaven and the Western Lake District on the map”