The University of Leeds’s Storm Jameson Court Residence has won a Bronze Award in the Access for All Tourism category at the prestigious Visit England Awards for Excellence 2012 Ceremony.

The Bronze Award is a great achievement and recognises Excellence in Tourism in England. The University of Leeds was presented with their Bronze Award at a glittering Awards Ceremony which was held on 22 May 2012 at Athena, an art deco gem located in the heart of Leicester’s cultural quarter.

Commenting on the Award James Berresford, Visit England’s Chief Executive said “In a year when we received a record of 392 high quality applications winning a Bronze Award is a considerable achievement. The University of Leeds is now ranked in the top 3 businesses in their category for Excellence achieving one of the highest accolades which Visit England can bestow. I warmly congratulate them”.

The Access for All Tourism Award is being sponsored by DisabledGo.

Dr. Gregory Burke, Chief Executive, DisabledGo, sponsors of the Access for All Tourism Award said; “The Access for All Tourism Award is a great way of rewarding businesses that have recognised the financial, social and legal reasons for improving their access and showing other businesses how they could benefit. DisabledGo are proud to sponsor this award and congratulate The University of Leeds on their win and wish them continued success for the future.”

The University of Leeds received their award from Anna Borthwick, Head of Business Development and Marketing, DisabledGo & Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, Chairman of Visit England.

Speaking on behalf of the University, Head of Residential Accommodation, Ian Robertson said, “We are obviously delighted to have won this Award. Storm Jameson Court has been thoughtfully designed to meet all requirements of the National Accessible Scheme (NAS) standard for people with mobility, visual and hearing impairments. Inclusive access to the building, its amenities and services, are promoted by a team trained to ensure that every visitor is made equally welcome and comfortable. I hope that our success will encourage other higher education providers emulate our achievements, to benefit everyone that seeks better quality access to campus accommodation”.

Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire has said: “Huge congratulations to the University and the team that has worked so hard in winning a National Award at the VisitEngland Awards Ceremony. This is a very impressive achievement and testament to the work and commitment shown by the University to provide first class services.”

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Notes to Editors
•For further information, contact Ian Robertson, Head of Residential Accommodation, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT. Office tel. 0113 343 6366, mobile tel. 07961 898574.
•The University of Leeds Residential Service operates Storm Jameson Court (459 beds) as a student residence during term time and as well actively promotes and sells accommodation and facilities in the Residence to conference and vacation visitors. The University of Leeds also owns and operates a wider portfolio of student accommodation in Leeds, allocating circa eight thousand students to places in its student residences.

About Visit England
•Visit England is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors
•Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics
•Visit England markets England under the Enjoy England consumer brand in the domestic market and markets England under the VisitEngland brand internationally

About the Visit England Awards for Excellence 2012
The Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2012 celebrate the best of English tourism. They promote healthy industry competition and high standards, helping to ensure England’s place as a world-class destination. www.enjoyengland.com/excellence
The 17 categories for the 2011 awards include: Access for all Tourism Award, Bed & Breakfast / Guest Accommodation of the Year, Best Tourism Experience, Business Tourism Award, Caravan Holiday Park, Large Hotel (over 35 bedrooms), Large Visitor Attraction (over 100,000 visitors), Outstanding Customer Service, Self Catering Holiday of the Year, Small Hotel of the Year (under 50 Bedrooms), Small Visitor Attraction (under 50,000), Sustainable Tourism Award, Taste of England Award, Best Tourism Event, Tourist Information Service, Tourism SuperStar, and Travel Article of the Year.
Included in the 17 categories is the additional award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism to be announced on the night. Previous winners of this award have included The Great English Pub, Michael Eavis CBE, HM The Queen, the Harry Potter films, Sir Cameron Mackintosh and in 2007, Sir Paul McCartney, Liverpool and The National Trust.