17th October 2007

Civilians working with the Royal Navy are celebrating after beating off the challenge of hundreds of entrants to be named one of the best of British at the final of Remploy’s 11th annual Leading the Way awards.

The Civil Service, part of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth, won the large category at the final in London and was presented with the coveted award by entrepreneur and former Dragon’s Den TV show “dragon” Richard Farleigh.

Remploy is the country’s leading provider of employment services for disabled people and the prestigious awards, run this year in association with The Times, recognise outstanding employers and individuals who have made significant efforts to actively encourage diversity within their organisations.

The Civil Service (Royal Navy) was one of eight businesses and individuals honoured at the awards final at the Victoria Plaza hotel in London (on Oct 15) and Richard Osborne, the civilian Equality and Diversity Officer, was delighted to have come out top of entrants from across Britain.

He said: “We have been working hard for a number of years to ensure that our disabled employees are truly integrated in the workplace and able to achieve their full potential, and that prospective employees compete on level terms with other job applicants. It is hugely gratifying to be recognised for our effort and this award underlines our commitment to the fair treatment and inclusion of disabled people.”

Remploy chief executive Bob Warner said in announcing the award that the judges had chosen the Civil Service (Royal Navy) due to its exceptional submission which demonstrated a wide ranging approach to tackle the issues of employing disabled people.

The initial contenders were whittled down to an early shortlist and then six regional finals earlier this month narrowed the field down even further but the Civil Service (Royal Navy) took the large category in the south of England region to qualify for the national final.

Apart from the large category won by the Civil Service (Royal Navy), awards were also on offer to businesses in five other categories, namely for Learning, Retention, Innovation and for Small (fewer than 100 employees) and Medium (101 – 1,000 employees).

Separate awards were also made to the Outstanding Business Individual and to the Outstanding Jobcentre Plus Individual of the year.
Richard Farleigh told guests that it made business sense for companies to be inclusive and a caring working environment generated respect.

He added: “We should be looking at all angles to get the right people. It is the mark of a good business that it is able to do that.”

Mr Warner told the audience at the awards: “It is always a privilege to applaud those businesses and individuals that go the extra mile in the employment of disabled people.

“Thanks to the example that many of you in this room have set, more employers are understanding the benefits of employing disabled people and helping to create a level playing field for disabled job seekers.”

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