20/11/2009 - Cheshire Celebrates Chess’ Success

Cheshire’s finest entrepreneurs, dignitaries, politicians and celebrities turned out in force for Thursday evening’s Cheshire Business Awards to pay tribute to the enterprise and vision of the county’s finest.

Chess Telecom was named ‘Employer of the Year 2009’ after demonstrating excellence in their approach to workforce development. Entries for this award increased by 46% on last year, and so Chess is especially delighted to be recognised in this fiercely competitive category

"It's a great honour to be named Cheshire’s Employer of the Year 2009," said David Pollock, Chief Executive. "All entrepreneurs set out to build successful businesses. What I wanted, though, was to build a successful business of which everyone involved can be truly proud. I view these awards as recognition of the entrepreneurial spirit and hard work of all Chess people. A business is nothing without its people and I truly believe that their growth and success underpins the growth and success of Chess. It is for this reason we have invested over half a million pounds in our Personal Performance Programme, introduced a generous employee bonus scheme in 2009 and agreed a new £100K budget for employee benefits for 2010. Winning awards is fantastic, they raise expectations and inspire us to drive the business forward."

When Chess launched it Blueprint for Success in 2005, people development was identified as one of the critical success factors in achieving our ambitious growth targets. Being part of a growing business creates opportunities for everyone in the business to progress their careers, achieve increased job satisfaction, develop skills and knowledge and gain rewards and recognition. The growth of our people in turn underpins the success of our business meaning that everyone benefits. This approach is born out by results – as turnover has increased from £9.4million to £27million in just five years and profits rose by 126% in the last financial year.

Chess’ vision is to be recognised as ‘the choice’ for business voice and data solutions. To support this we work hard to create a dynamic, hard-working, energetic, success driven, fun and exciting place to work that attracts, retains and inspires people to give their best. Chess wants to become a benchmark, not only for the Telecoms Industry but for the wider business community.