Larbert firm praises its award-winning 'rising star' Joanne

An employee who was the “driving force” behind a catering supplies firm’s efforts to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic has earned herself a major award.
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Joanne Hamilton's rapid progress at Catering Supplies and Repairs (CSR) Ltd, in Muirhall Road, Larbert has not gone unnoticed overt the last couple of years and now she has won the CEDA (Catering Equipment Distributors Association) Rising Star Award.

Allan Pinkerton, CSR managing director, said: “Joanne has been with us for nearly three years now and in that short time she has progressed from a basic administrator role to the management of my entire service department.

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“I am delighted and very proud of Joanne’s achievement in winning this award, considering the competition she was up against. Her mature attitude and genuine understanding of mental health issues in the work place set her apart from other applicants and is responsible to her rapid advancement within the business.”

Catering Supplies and Repairs Ltd (CSR Ltd) service manager Joanne Hamilton with her rising star awardCatering Supplies and Repairs Ltd (CSR Ltd) service manager Joanne Hamilton with her rising star award
Catering Supplies and Repairs Ltd (CSR Ltd) service manager Joanne Hamilton with her rising star award

The award is presented to an employee who has been with the company less than 5 years and who has made a real difference in a short time.

That certainly describes the impact Joanne has had on CSR, which has been operating in the Falkirk area for over 40 years.

Starting off in February 2019 as a service administrator, it did not take long for Joanne to make her presence felt, especially when she was “thrown into” the position of service manager seven months later due to an “unforeseen staffing issue”.

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At that time she was suddenly overseeing 10 engineers, two apprentices, a labourer and three admin staff.

She fought hard to change ways of working and gained the respect of her team, as well as suppliers and customers.

To further improve her skills she took a managerial course in her own time and this served her well when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and she found herself only one of two employees still working in the office.

A CSR spokesperson stated: “She was the driving force in getting the staff set up from home so that they could still work and to put a bank of engineers in place for the work we still had to do when others were placed on furlough.

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"Joanne made a point to contact all the individual engineers to put their mind at ease at the situation we were all in. She made sure they were all fully kitted out with PPE to keep them, and everyone they came into contact with, as safe as possible.

"She also held zoom calls for the staff still home working – thiss was the exact point CSR turned round and customers noticed a real difference in our customer service.”

Joanne’s latest mission has seen her develop an on-line maintenance report so the engineers can complete these on their i-pads.

A CSR spokesperson said: “She is a force to be reckoned with and her ability to do her job has to be truly admired and we feel she is so deserving of recognition like this Rising Star Award.”

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