M.A.D Winners

October – Richard Boxall, Plant Area Manager (Stanmore)

Richard was nominated for his award for stepping up and running the centre in the absence of both the Manager and Assistant Manager. Despite low staffing levels, and a restaurant refit, Richard remained positive throughout.

September – James Lucas, Tills Assistant & Ben Whitton, Delivery Driver

James and Ben received their nomination, from a very happy customer, who felt the pair had gone above and beyond when they delivered to the customer had a broken wrist.

August – Iffy Ullah, Garden Furniture Head (Crawley)

Iffy was nominated for his award by a customer for assisting with her elderly mother who had an accident in the centre. Iffy showed such care and concern to the customer, and couldn’t have done anymore to help.

July – Christian Tiley, Euan Terry  and Agnieszka Moczulska (Restaurant team at Frensham)

The team received their nomination for the way they handled a difficult situation, keeping calm, polite and diffusing the tension.

June – Jean Cox, Front of House (Badshot Lea) 

Jean received her nomination for her hard work when a another member of staff was taken ill. Because of this, Jean was left alone managing the cafe area and she did an exceptional job! People were coming and going and there was a lot to do but she remained professional and polite throughout clearly doing her very best.

May – Daniel Collins, Front of House (Chertsey)

Daniel was nominated for a MAD award after a customer had written into the centre praising him for his service. Here’s what they had to say:

“I just wanted to let you know how wonderful our waiter Dan was in taking care of us at lunchtime today. We were a party of ladies “of a certain age” and one of our group has a severe disability, so we took a very long time ordering, sorting out the menu and then making payment for our meals and drinks. Dan was absolutely exceptional in his manner and his patience in dealing with us all. He was polite and courteous the whole time and had the patience of a Saint! I know how busy you are and how stretched you are with insufficient staff, but Dan was absolutely wonderful – a credit to Squires!”

April – Tsenko Pazvanski, Chef (Milford) 

Tsenko, who has been with Squire’s for over 7 years,  progressing from Kitchen Porter to Chef, was in the kitchen when the frying pan caught fire. In the moment he was calm and did everything that he been trained to do to put the fire out without causing damage or setting off the sprinklers (which could cause us to close the kitchen for a couple days). His attitude and professionalism when under pressure has earnt him this award.

March – Christine Foley & Tina Dyer Plants Sales Assistants (Stanmore) 

Christine and Tina received their award for stepping up when both the centres Plant Area Manager and Assistant Manager were away from the business. During this time there were various large deliveries to get ready for thee spring set-up. The two ladies coped fantastically well on their own, perfectly setting up the plant department ready for the peak season with minimum guidance.

March – Amy Middlehurst, Gift Department Head (Shepperton) 

Abby was nominated because, of her quick actions when an elderly customer was taken ill in the centre. Abby had been one of the first aiders at the scene and had managed to keep the family and situation calm. She had phoned for an ambulance and had very clearly relayed all information from the patient, as well as the in-depth questions from the paramedic on the phone, to determine the best course of care needed. Abby had then stayed with the family, keeping them informed and in comfort while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. Her exemplary handling of the situation demonstrated outstanding first aid care and professionalism.

February – Pets & Aquatics Team (Washington)

The Pets and Aquatic team at Squire’s Washington had recently gone above and beyond, helping a customer who made numerous visits to the aquatic centre at with their son who was setting up an aquarium for an axolotl. The team were very helpful and and able to share their extensive knowledge with the customer.

January – Helen Thomas, Plants Sales Assistant (Crawley)

A customer had recently written in to thank Helen who helped them and their anxiety during their visit to Squire’s.

This was the customers first visit to Squires by themselves since 2019. So Helen’s  warm, calming influence was exactly what the customer in that moment.

January – Emma Large, Restaurant Manager &
Trudy O’Connell, Front of House (Frensham)

There was an incident in the Frensham Café Bar where one of their regular customers stopped breathing during breakfast service. Trudy and Emma were called to assist and immediately placed the lady into the recovery position. Thankfully, this cleared the airway, and she started breathing again. An ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital where she is recovering well. Her daughter phoned today to thank Trudy and Emma and said without their quick reactions her mum would not be here today.

December – John Irwin (West Horsley)

John stepped in as West Horsley’s Father Christmas and truly exceeded all expectations with his dedication to the role, receiving nothing but good feedback. When in “Santa mode” he has an incredible skill for picking up the name of a child before interacting, this shows the magic of Santa/Christmas. John is now known in the community for his role as Santa and has made special appearances at Christmas parties and schools. He hasn’t taken any payment for these appearances but has asked that a donation be made to Oakleaf, West Horsley’s Charity of the Year.

November – Karen Ranger

Karen demonstrated her dedication to the team when asked to work an additional day to cover holiday and sickness within the team. Despite facing lots of challenges to get into the centre, resulting in a bus journey, and 2 mile walk, Karen still made it in and really made a significant difference allowing the team to get on with stock taking and trade. Most people, when faced with the challenge of getting here on a day they weren’t scheduled to work would have simply said they couldn’t make it in, but Karen certainly went over and above to help her team.

September – Ben Whitton (West Horsley)

Ben, who recently joined us, demonstrated exceptional kindness and responsibility when he stopped to help an elderly woman who had fallen on the side of the road. After ensuring her safety and realising she needed assistance, Ben flagged down a passing car, and together they helped the woman back to her home.

August – Laura Creffield (West Horsley)

Laura has been an invaluable team member at Squires for a couple of years, primarily working as a Sunday assistant in plants but willingly taking on various roles and shifts, even offering to clean the centre, café, toilets and staff room every day at 7:30 am after the regular cleaners were lost.

July – Deborah Lake (Milford)

June – Sammy Anderson (Long Ditton)

After a local business’s stock was accidentally delivered to Squire’s Long Ditton, Sammy stayed for 2 hours after work to help get the stock back to its rightful owners.

May – Charlie, Debra and Amy (Shepperton)

For coming back after the centre had closed to retrieve a customer’s insulin bag which had been left behind.

April – Michael Carpenter (Milford)

For donating an adapted tricycle to Squire’s Milford’s Charity of the Year, Woodlarks Campsite, which allows children with special needs the opportunity to boost there strength, confidence & sense of freedom whilst getting some fresh air.

March – Mark Higgs (Hersham)

For dealing with a customer who became abusive towards staff. Mark was on day off having lunch with his family, and handled the situation to insure the customer was removed from the premises.

February – Sam Chilcott (Wokingham)

For going above and beyond in her assistance for a customer who had fallen ill.

January – Matt, Ben, Nick, Katie and Cheryl (Badshot Lea)

For helping an elderly lady after her car broke down outside our Badshot Lea centre.