CELEBRATING OUR EVERYDAY HEROES AT OUR 2021 BE THE DIFFERENCE AWARDS

2021-06-15 08:48:56.0

Our colleagues at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK came together virtually last month to celebrate the success and achievements of talented individuals across the business at our annual ‘Be the Difference’ awards.

The awards ceremony is a chance to shine a spotlight on individuals and teams who have gone above and beyond for our partners, customers and colleagues, and is a highly anticipated event in our annual social calendar.

After the unprecedented events of the past year, celebrating the hard work and achievements of our dedicated colleagues is more important now than ever before.

Categories this year included Customer Advocacy, Partners in Growth, Best Newcomer, What’s My Impact (Community Award) and CEO Colleague of the Year, and we welcomed nominations for any individual in the company across both our Solihull and Belfast offices.

Team members from a wide range of areas including customer service, marketing, finance, risk, IT and HR joined forces to recognise the amazing contributions of their colleagues.

There were a number of standout winners this year, with director of ADM, IT, Sally Kelly, taking home the Inspirational Woman of the Year award. Sally was recognised not only for her for knowledge and expertise, but also for being a role model, leading the department within a specialist field and discipline and one which is often stereotypically associated with male domination.  

In addition, our Inspirational Man of the Year award went to Dean Elliott, head of proposition delivery, who was recognised for the huge role he played in helping to support and lead the business during the pandemic by delivering a digital open banking solution to support customers impacted by COVID-19.

This year we also introduced our new ‘Be Brave’ award, to recognise individuals who have lived and breathed our new business values – ‘We’re positive. We’re brave. We own it’. This year’s winner, management accountant Helen Bailey, has pushed themselves outside of their comfort zone, challenging themselves to do better and has transformed not only her career but also key business processes by being brave.

Lynda Brennan, director of HR at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, said: "Our Be the Difference awards are a great way to highlight the fantastic achievements of both individuals and teams across the company.

“We are so grateful to all of our colleagues for their hard work and dedication during a challenging year, and we’re delighted to have been able to (virtually) recognise some of these everyday heroes."