We are absolutely over the moon to share that our St James reception team at Chiswick Park has been crowned Team of the Year at the Allstars Gala for the second year running!
This brilliant team brings energy, kindness and genuine care to Chiswick Park every single day. This award is a true reflection of the spirit they pour into making everyone feel welcome.
A huge congratulations also goes to our two outstanding individual winners:
⭐ Oleh Banakh — winner of the Values Award, truly living the Enjoy-Work mindset
⭐ Alice Cazan — crowned Manager of the Year 2025, leading with heart and excellence
To all our nominees – thank you for inspiring us and for making Chiswick Park such a special place to be. And a heartfelt thank you to Chiswick Park for your continued support and for creating an environment where teams like ours can thrive.
Here’s to another year of smiling faces, warm welcomes and making Chiswick Park an even better place to work and enjoy.
Julie Gordon Managing Director St James Facilities Services Ltd
Lesson One: Collaboration is Key
As the MD of a people business, I was keen to create a collaborative community and provide flexible support to clients and colleagues alike, despite the misleading and sometimes contradictory public messages. We quickly transitioned to remote working and reduced team contact. We diversified our services by sourcing face masks, hand sanitiser, sneeze screens, signage, and whatever was required at different client buildings. Sandrine quickly mastered Zoom and I mobilised people through hosting town halls and a vast number of online events. Despite the difficulties, we continued to deliver business value during this unprecedented crisis. On reflection, it’s good to talk, listen, and support each other.
Lesson Four: St James Has Got Talent!
Motivated people will take the initiative, organise themselves, and find the resources they need to showcase their talent. Even at the lowest point of lockdown, we actively engaged in a variety of colleague led events. Some social and educational illustrations included: Zumba with Antonella; Keep Fit with Dagmara; Cooking with Mark, Cryptic Quizzes with Martin and others; Philosophy with Ursula; and much more.
On reflection, these events gave us a sense of “being in it together” and escaping the reality of non-human contact with colleagues and friends. It also reminded me that for the most part, we are autonomous and self-organising, whilst realising individual talent from within St James. Any comments on this article are most welcome.