A WEST Devon company has been shortlisted for a national award in the small business category for service excellence. Helpful Holidays of Chagford is one of three finalists from across the UK for the Service Excellence Award 2006. The company was put forward because it had shown commitment to providing ?exceptional? quality of service in all dimensions of the business. General manager of Helpful Holidays, Moray Bowater, said: ?Part of our ethos is to tell it like it is.? The company researches holiday homes and describes them carefully and accurately in a brochure, and offers holiday makers the advice of one of its staff who has visited the property. ?Because of this frank and honest approach, our holidaymaker questionnaires show a 95% satisfaction rate and a 55% repeat booking rate,? said Mrs Bowater. Helpful Holidays will celebrate its 25th anniversary later this year. It was set up by Su and Euan Bowater in 1981 and has remained in the same family ownership. A panel of judges will select the winner after a programme of assessment visits until the end of July. The winner will be announced at a special dinner and ceremony on Thursday, September 28 at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel, London.
