Ellesmere Port Marks & Spencer employee Daniel Bedford won the Retail Ambassador of the Year at the retailer’s annual Pride of M&S Plan A Awards, attended by actress Joanna Lumley.
Daniel, 27, who works at the M&S store at Cheshire Oaks and lives in Chester, was recognised as an outstanding individual with a passion for developing and inspiring others.
He regularly visits local schools to talk about what a career in retail can involve and inspires youngsters by sharing his personal journey.
Daniel is widely seen as a local role model and a fantastic ambassador for retail as a career.
He was one of more than 200 M&S employees nominated for an award and was presented with his award certificate at a ceremony held in London last week.
Daniel said: “It was a fantastic surprise to win the award. I really enjoy meeting new people and talking about my job to inspire others to consider a career in retail – and to be recognised for all this is the real icing on the cake!”
The Cheshire Oaks store also won the ‘2013 Pride of M&S Award’ as they were nominated in every award category and were highly commended for their achievements .
The team includes Shena Holland, Linda Davidson, Louise Cassidy and Hilary Wilkinson.
Mike Barry, M&S’s director of Plan A, added: “These awards give us the opportunity to recognise our local ‘heroes’, to showcase our people’s stories and for them to go back to their stores and inspire others to get involved.
“The overall quality of nominations for the awards this year was outstanding, so our winners really are very special. As you can imagine, we’re very proud of Daniel and his colleagues at Cheshire Oaks store.”
