next Sourcing celebrates long-standing service excellence

Tuesday, 17 July 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

next Sourcing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of next Plc, UK, the retail clothing and accessory giant, celebrated Long Service Awards 2012 in Sri Lanka recently.

The company organised an employee recognition awards program which was held at the Grand Ballroom, Hilton Colombo, amidst a gathering of next team members, and was graced by Gwyn Williams, Regional Director – next Sourcing, Chanaka Perera, Director/General Manager, Hugh McConnell, Senior Technical Manager and Wilhelm Elias, Senior Merchandise Manager.

Gwyn Williams speaking at the event stated: “Our people are our strength. We have been fortunate over the past 18 years to have employed the finest professionals in the garment industry in Sri Lanka. Some of those ex-employees in the present operate at a senior level in other companies which gives us immense pride. However, what gives us even more pride and pleasure is to see such a large proportion of our employees staying with us and developing long term careers with next. We thank them all for their loyalty.”

Chanaka Perera, elaborating on the company mantra and commending the team work, said: “18 years ago, we commenced an impossible dream. Today, we are the template for other sourcing offices. We take pride in our operations across the region, and Sri Lanka is a very special unit in this context. We are proud to mention that our Sri Lankan team members have proven their capabilities in their respective responsibilities not only locally but across our operations globally. Our team includes over 230 members in Sri Lanka and it is my privilege to thank each and every team member in driving this organization to where it is now, with a focus of reaching greater heights in the future.”

The ‘next-Long Service Awards’ recognised a total of 102 employees. This is 44% of the total staff population at next. Amongst them, 26% received Long Service Awards under the ‘more than 5 years’ category and 16% in the ‘more than 10 years’ category.

Mihiri Ranasinghe, Head of HR – next Sourcing said: “We believe in an open culture, rewarding and recognising the most important asset in our organisation – our people, our unsung heroes. It is a rare honour to be the pioneers who helped the organisation take its first baby steps, until it is now marching confidently into the future. Because our team is embedded within our company values, we have reasons to be proud. The award ceremony was organised to recognize longstanding service excellence among the ‘next’ family.”

next Retail is a chain of more than 500 stores in the UK and in Europe. next Sourcing designs and sources clothing, accessories and products through its global network of offices and suppliers, negotiating market leading prices and managing production, ensuring on time delivery on behalf of next Plc.

next Sourcing has 14 offices across 10 countries world-wide including Leicester, London, Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh, Dongguan, North India, South India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai.