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8 | 13th - 19th March 2015 | UtILItY WEEK Utility Week Stars Awards Manchester, 12 June 2015 Event Unsung heroes Frontline utilities staff deserve more recognition, says Lois Vallely, and the Utility Week Stars Awards aims to see that they get it. I n June, the acclaimed Util- ity Week Stars Awards will be back for another year of cel- ebration as we recognise the crucial contributions of front line and back office staff from the worlds of energy and water. Aer exceeding expectations at its debut last year, the Stars Awards is shaping up to be even bigger and better this year, with the introduction of new catego- ries and some new faces on our judging panel. With embattled position of utilities at the moment, we think it is important to show the other side of the industry. We want to honour the unsung heroes of the energy and water networks, who keep our lights on, our gas flow- ing and our taps running. Day aer day these people go above and beyond the call of duty to deliver vital services to homes and businesses and make a real difference to people's lives. We want to recognise work- ers who seldom get the spot- light, but who work tirelessly overnight (and sometimes over Christmas) to deal with the fallout of extreme weather; the back office teams and dedicated customer service providers who take the time to care about indi- vidual circumstances. Your can enter as many cat- egories as you wish – there are 13 in all – and multiple catego- ries can be entered on the same submission. Entries should be no longer than 1,000 words. So enter yourself, your team or your colleagues to inspire others and receive industry rec- ognition for the outstanding work you, and they, do – you've got until 27 March. Our team of expert judges will select the win- ners and identify an overall Star of Stars. The awards will be given out in June at a star-spangled aer- noon summer party. Enter now at: www.utility- weekstars.co.uk "Knowing someone had taken the time to nominate me was really lovely as I didn't feel I did anything special. I just do what I do because I can." Jane Morland, partnerships assistant manager, Northumbrian Water, winner of Giving Back Award 2014 "More than a pure awards-styled presentation, it felt like a celebration of everything it takes to consistently supply a utility service or product, no matter what it takes." Ricky Kruger, manager, Oxford calor centre, part of the Oxford calor centre team at calor Gas. Winner of the 'Above and Beyond' Team Award 2014 "We're really glad that their achievements have been independently recognised by the industry." Toni Calder, brand executive, UK Power Networks, part of the UKPN website and social media team. Winner of the Customer Service Award 2014 and Customer Facing Team of the Year Award 2014 James Blackett, field staff supervisor, UK Power Networks, part of the UKPN operations team Winner of the Operational Team of the Year Award 2014 "When we won it was totally unexpected and was an absolute honour. The whole team was taken aback, particularly as we just considered what we did as just us doing our jobs and helping out a com- munity that had been devastated by terrible floods. "The atmosphere was amazing and it was great to hear so many people being rewarded for their work." "We were thrilled to win the award in 2014 as it provided a sense of achievement and recognition for the hard work and excellent results that had been delivered by the team." Laura McMain, category manager, Northumbrian Water, part of the selectusonline team. Winner of the Back Office Team of the Year Award 2014 Last year's Stars awards saw a full house gather at the Old trafford cricket club in Manchester