Key Accounts team leader Karen Kemp has been served a truly memorable moment – as national pub and restaurant company Mitchells and Butlers selected her as one of their account managers of the year.
Karen has day-to-day responsibility for co-ordinating the reactive drain unblocking service delivered by Lanes Group across hundreds of Mitchells and Butlers’ pubs and restaurants.
She has done such an impressive job over the last 12 months that she has been named Account Manager of the Year for Mitchells and Butlers’ national drainage services supply chain.
Delivery ‘A Team Effort’
Karen, who works in the Lanes national key accounts department, said: “It was such a lovely surprise to get this recognition. I’m so happy our Mitchells and Butlers colleagues are pleased with our service.
“Delivering an emergency drain cleaning service on this scale has to be a team effort, with everyone in my team and at depots pulling together so our drainage engineers can do the best possible job.”
Jennifer Ianson, Supplier Accounts Manager at Mitchells and Butlers, presented Karen with her award at a service review meeting at the Lanes Birmingham depot in Coleshill, West Midlands.
She said: “As a company, we see ourselves as hosts to life’s memorable moments, so it was lovely to be able to give Karen such a nice surprise. She fully deserves the recognition.
“We carefully measure all aspects of our supply chain operations and have a lot of good suppliers working for us. But Karen’s contribution in terms of her professionalism, diligence and willingness to get stuck in at all times was clear to see.”
Adding Value For Customers
Lanes Customer Services Manager Joann Lowe said: “Karen’s commitment to customer care typifies what the work of the colleagues in our key accounts department is all about.
“They have the knowledge and expertise needed to support both customers and our operational teams, adding value that translates into service efficiency and standards our customers rely on.”
Lanes teams support Mitchells and Butlers in the North West, Midlands and South West regions. Services delivered include drain, toilet and sink unblocking, grease trap emptying and surface water drain jetting, plus remediation works, if needed.
All calls for assistance go through the national key accounts department, where Karen coordinates the Lanes response by depots in Bristol, Chester, Manchester, Birmingham and Derby.
A Real Star
She said: “My view is that I own the problem on behalf of Mitchells and Butlers and we will deliver a solution, whatever time of day we get the call. Lanes is a 24/7, 365 service. So we have what it takes.”
Lanes Birmingham depot Area Development Manager Mike White, who has just taken over as Key Account Manager for the Mitchells and Butlers service, said: “Karen is a real star.
“We can rely on her to support work teams with the right instructions and information to do the best possible job at each site for Mitchells and Butlers. Karen and her team make our work much easier.”
Mitchells and Butlers is one of the UK’s largest pub and restaurant companies. With a history that stretches back to 1898, Mitchells and Butlers now owns some of the UK’s most popular pub and restaurant brands, including Ember Inns, All Bar One, Toby Carvery, Miller & Carter and O’Neill’s.