A Q-Park employee is celebrating being crowned ‘Best Parking Person’ by the British Parking Association at this years’ prestigious national awards ceremony.
Parking host Mohammed Farooq, who works at the Q-Park Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre (QEMC) car park, picked up his prestigious award at the InterContinental Hotel in London after receiving an extraordinary amount of compliments from both staff and visitors to the car park which is used by terminally ill cancer patients and their families who are incredibly thankful for Farooq’s sensitive, warm and helpful approach.
He plays an important role as part of the patients’ experience as he is the first person to welcome those who have travelled by car and so he endeavors to make their experience as smooth and stress-free as possible. He always has a smile on his face and is unfailingly friendly and welcoming without being intrusive or familiar.
The Parking Person of the Year award recognises individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty and make an outstanding contribution in their work. Regular visitors to the hospital can testify to Mohammed's consistently positive attitude and respectful manner, in the face of sometimes difficult circumstances, and the relationship he has built up with them.
He said: ‘I was extremely excited to even be nominated and it’s really nice to get some recognition and achieve something at work. I wouldn’t have got it without the support of the patients and my colleagues. The patients I help have enough problems as it is and I try to take as much of the burden by being as pleasant as I can and making them feel welcome.’
Mohammed’s win was partly due to the extensive training he has undergone since joining the Q-Park team; encouraging him to fulfil his true potential with emphasis on product knowledge, technical skills and a service-minded attitude.
His customer focused approach recently earned him a nomination for a Best in Care Award by the Patient Advice and Liaison Service of the NHS (PALS) after he was described as being ‘the perfect gentleman’.
Said Q-Park Managing Director Adam Bidder: “Mohammed is a highly-valued and respected member of our Q-Park team and we are delighted that his efforts been recognised nationally. This is an award which every member of the team at QEMC can be very proud of; their hard work enables Mohammed to deliver this front line activity on a daily basis. This award reflects the customer focused culture which all of us promote and it supports the meet and greet initiative which we have now rolled out across the company.”
ENDS
For more information or further photography please contact Emily Carrie, PR for Q-Park on Tel: 077207 13731 or email: emily@promise-pr.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
• Q-Park has been managing the parking at the Queen Elizabeth site in Birmingham since 1995 where 3,200 spaces were provided in surface car parks.
• In 2006 Q-Park engaged in the PFI contract with Consort Healthcare to manage the parking during construction and after completion of the new hospital.
• The PFI project will provide 3,500 spaces (2,200 in 2 multi-storey car parks plus 1,300 surface-level spaces).
• Q-Park currently have 25 car parks at the site in total ranging from a 1,184 space MSCP and a smaller 512 space MSCP to many other smaller surface car parks.
• They cater for 7,800 members of hospital staff working varying shift patterns and around 400 visitors and patients per hour all who require safe and secure parking.