Maria Ashurst with the Peter Dye Memorial Shield
On its 40th birthday and to honour its long-serving director who passed away earlier this year, legal software and outsourcing provider, Quill, has launched a new employee award scheme called the Peter Dye Memorial Shield. Unveiled at its recent AGM, the award’s purpose is to recognise staff members demonstrating exceptional performance in the workplace.
Peter Dye spent 40 years as a board member, serving Quill almost since the company was first formed in 1978. Peter’s unwavering resilience, perseverance and dedication to his working life at Quill are the attributes sought in the winner of the Memorial Shield, awarded annually.
The inaugural recipient of the Memorial Shield is Maria Ashurst, Quill’s helpdesk support technician, chosen because of her outstanding passion for client care. Maria has been the go-to person for technical assistance regarding Quill’s latest version of its Interactive legal accounts and practice management software, and showed notable resilience while its support department was short staffed for a brief period.
Quill’s MD, Julian Bryan, comments: “As we celebrate our 40th anniversary and mark the passing of our revered director, Peter Dye, whose sudden loss was a shock to everyone at Quill, we wanted to do something special to commemorate Peter’s tireless work. That’s why we’ve launched the Peter Dye Memorial Shield. We’re ensuring Peter’s legacy carries on by acknowledging the values which he lived and breathed in other employees, and noting his tremendous contribution through the efforts of those still working at Quill.
“Maria was an easy choice as the first winner of the Memorial Shield. She’s always stood out as someone who does her utmost to help clients facing technical difficulties to get up-and-running again in as little time as possible. Her dedication never falters, even when she’s rushed off her feet, which she has been over the past weeks while we’ve been recruiting new helpdesk people. Maria’s a very worthy winner. Not only is her name etched onto the Memorial Shield forever, she was also awarded with £100 Love2shop vouchers to spend on the high street.”
Maria states: “Winning the Memorial Shield was totally unexpected, not least because it never existed before. I was surprised and touched in equal measure. It’s nice to know that hard work is noticed and rewarded in this way. It was lovely to receive the vouchers too and, of course, I’ve already spent them!”
Quill’s renowned for employee engagement, holding ‘One to Watch’ status with Best Companies, the organisation behind the ‘Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For’ lists, and being voted ‘Employer of the Year’ in the Multiple Sclerosis Society Awards 2016. Amongst Quill’s many employee engagement initiatives are bi-monthly ‘News, Views & Eats’ regional roadshows whereby there’s two-way discussion between managers and employees within a relaxed atmosphere over food and drink, monthly emails from the MD titled ‘JB’s Update’ and annual AGM attended by all staff.
