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To reward those who work over the festive period, Bidfood’s Christmas Gift campaign will return and extend nominations industry-wide.

The campaign will recognise those who sacrifice spending Christmas with their families to make the holiday season special for others.

Bidfood’s sales and marketing director, Andy Kemp, said: “Following the overwhelming success of last year, we are delighted to announce the return of our award-winning Bidfood’s Christmas Gift Campaign.

“The sheer volume of heart-warming stories we received last year is testament to the hard work and importance the hospitality sector has on all of us.

“With thousands giving up family time in the lead up, and often on Christmas Day itself, we want to hear about some of the standout individuals in our industry and thank them for the contribution.

“This year, we are really excited to be opening nominations up industry-wide, encouraging not only our customers, but anyone who works within hospitality and is serving or preparing food and drink on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.”

Research from Bidfood revealed that 93.4% of hospitality workers accepted there is a chance they need to work Christmas or Boxing Day and 40% admitted that they felt guilty about not spending the festive period with their families.

It also revealed that 45.5% of the 750 hospitality workers surveyed, felt a sense of community with colleague who also worked on Christmas or Boxing Day.

Winners will be chosen via a panel of leading influencers across the industry, including Bidfood’s group sales and marketing director, Andy Kemp, Springboard chief executive Anne Pierce, Pride of Britain hotels chief executive, Peter Hancock, Kate Nicholls, chief executive at UKHospitality, Mark Lewis, chief executive at Hospitality action,  chief executive of the Savoy Educational Trust,  Julia Sibley MP, and Andy Jones, chair of the PS100 group.

The categories include:
Accommodation: hotels, B&B’s, hostels, pubs with accommodation.
Care: hospitals, care homes, hospices.
Foodie outlets: restaurants, pubs, cafes, bars
Charities/other: includes charities and schools or universities.

Four winners will be revealed on December 3 and each will receive a Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings from Bidfood in January, once the busy period has passed, as well as a surprise gift.

Entries are open from October 15 to midnight on 12 November and can be made online at: www.bidfood.co.uk/bidfood-christmas-gift