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We’re celebrating a trio of awards…

November 15, 2018

Marwell has been awarded a trio of different accolades in one month recognising our environmental efforts, quality ethical food and for being the best place to work!

Food for Life

We’re proud to announce we’ve achieved a Food for Life Served Here Silver Award from the Soil Association for serving fresh, local and honest meals at the zoo. The award recognises caterers who are serving meals that use less additives, better quality meat, responsibly sourced fish and locally sourced ingredients.

Head of Catering at Marwell, Chrissie Mullen, explained: “The reason we went for this award is because it stands for everything we believe in. To achieve this we had to demonstrate and prove we promote fresh, local and honest food; at least 75 per cent of our meals are freshly prepared from scratch in our kitchen. All of our meat is from animals reared on farms that meet UK legal welfare standards and the fish we serve are ‘free from endangered fish’ as recognised by the Marine Conservation Society ‘fish to avoid’ list. Our hot food menu is free from additives like MSG, free from artificial trans fats and any undesirable additives, artificial sweeteners and controversial food colours. We aim to use seasonal ingredients and at least 5 per cent of ingredients are organic – a more environmentally sustainable type of farming. Our biggest claim is that we use sustainable palm oil in the products that we sell or use as an ingredient.”

Ian Nutt, Head of Development at Food for Life, added: “Food for Life Served Here caterers are leading the way in improving food culture. Achieving a Food for Life Served Here Award is a fantastic accomplishment and a true reflection of a caterers’ commitment to serving meals that are nutritious as well as tasty.”

Green Impact Awards

Marwell achieved Gold status for going the extra mile to reduce our carbon emissions.

Winchester City Council’s second annual Green Impact Awards held at Guildhall Winchester celebrated businesses across the district that are making efforts to become more environmentally sustainable.  

The Mayor of Winchester presented the Gold award to our Head of Sustainability Dr Duncan East.

Deputy Leader of Winchester City Council and Portfolio Holder for Economy, Cllr Rob Humby said:

“I am pleased to see a variety of businesses that have signed up to the scheme and are working towards making Winchester and the wider District a greener, cleaner place to live and work.

“What is great about this scheme is it can be applied to businesses of all sizes, from different sectors, and help them to make simple improvements to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly, which will make a real difference to the environment.”

Overall, the businesses reduced carbon by 250,000kg which is equivalent to 46 orca whales – or 2,749 baby elephants!  

Solent Business Awards

Finally, Marwell won the Best Company to Work For accolade at the 2018 Solent Business Awards.

Judges said the award was made for organisations with creative working styles, innovative working environment, wide-ranging staff facilities, an open, inclusive work culture and strong environmental policies.

Chief Executive James Cretney, Director of Conservation Tim Woodfine, Commercial Director Sean Mannie and PA to Chief Executive Helen Rees collected the award at the ceremony celebrating outstanding business enterprise, entrepreneurialism, innovation and best practice, held at the Ageas Bowl.

Marwell was also honoured as Finalist in the Management Team of the Year category recognising teams that can demonstrate a clear and consistent track record of strong leadership, drive and adaptability together with the ability to think and plan ahead.   

Earlier this year, Marwell was named 13 out of 100 in the Sunday Times Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to work for 2018. The Best Companies list is an annual ranking of the UK’s happiest and most motivated workforces.

Creating a culture where people love their work, we boast a variety of wellbeing initiatives including a staff choir, pilates and hula-hooping sessions as well as a regular Wellbeing Wheelbarrow where our colleagues are hand-delivered tasty treats and useful gadgets alongside important health information.