We’re delighted to share that Andron has won two awards at the 2026 Kimberly-Clark Professional Golden Service Awards: Social Impact, and Retail/Shopping Malls over 100,000 m² for our team at Silverburn.
Created over 30 years ago, the biennial Golden Service Awards is today one of the most sought-after accolades in the FM and cleaning industry, with judging overseen by the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc). Two of our Silverburn colleagues were also shortlisted on the night, for Supervisor of the Year and Cleaning Operative of the Year, narrowly missing out on both, but recognition in itself that the quality of this team did not go unnoticed by the judges.
Here is what the judges had to say about our two winning entries.
On Social Impact: “Through every part of their work, this company thinks about social impact. From employment of many protected individuals to procurement of equipment that supports communities, refreshments that create more career opportunities in other industries, this company continues to hold a legacy of doing good in the heartbeat of every decision they make. Their impact to individuals, customers and communities is undeniable. An excellent winner.”
On Retail/Shopping Malls over 100,000 m²: “It’s clear that this company truly values its cleaning team, not just for keeping the site spotless, but as essential members of the customer service experience, consistently going above and beyond. Their passion, dedication, and teamwork are evident in every aspect of the site.”
Social Impact
The Social Impact category is awarded to companies making a significant, demonstrable difference to people and communities through ongoing programmes, projects and partnerships. We won it for the range of our social value work across the business and, at the heart of it, Inclusive Futures.
Inclusive Futures began during the pandemic, when our CEO Cheryl Stewart was volunteering with Social Bite and met people supported by the charity who were facing redundancy as its cafés closed. Cheryl offered one of them a cleaning role, and his success led to a structured programme to help people facing barriers to employment, including those experiencing homelessness, care leavers, people with disabilities and more. Since launching in 2020, it has placed 26 people into employment, including 13 through Social Bite’s Jobs First initiative, with further placements through Drive Forward Foundation, Paddington Development Trust and Enable.
The win also recognised our wider social impact work over the past two years (£850,000 in verified social value generated in FY24 alone), including volunteering projects, English classes for frontline staff, CV-writing workshops for people facing barriers to employment, and support for care-experienced young people through career events. Alongside this, we were recognised for our procurement work through Social Supermarket, our Disability Confident Employer status, and the Serious Tissue partnership with JLL that has funded the planting of more than 2,200 trees and supported employment for people experiencing homelessness. And of course, for the Prostate Scotland fundraiser held by our late co-founder Ron Stewart Jnr, which raised over £50,000 to support men accessing care through the COMPASS programme.
This is a wide-ranging award to win and reflects a lot of genuine effort from a lot of people across the business. The colleagues across our sites who have welcomed Inclusive Futures recruits and invested time in helping them settle and succeed, the colleagues who have given up their time to volunteer, and the people throughout the business who make social value part of how they work day to day.
Retail/Shopping Malls over 100,000 m²: Silverburn
The Retail/Shopping Malls over 100,000 m² category is judged on cleanliness standards, teamwork, management, client communication, and an understanding of how the service impacts the people using the building. With over 15 million visitors a year, few sites test all of those things quite like Silverburn.
Our team has been running the contract there since February 2023 and has built something the whole business can be proud of. 99% cleaning audit scores maintained throughout, 97% staff retention, a waste recycling rate up from 66% to 76%, and a client that went from regularly having to step in to manage cleaning issues, to describing Andron as central to Silverburn’s position as Scotland’s leading retail and leisure destination.
What our submission really brought to life, though, is what sits behind those results. A team that goes well beyond its core role, supporting fire evacuations, helping find lost children, assisting vulnerable guests. Colleagues progressing from entry-level roles into leadership, apprenticeships, and professional qualifications, with supervisors and managers promoted from within. Tenants and visitors writing in to thank individual team members by name. Guests describing the centre’s facilities, and how they are always so spotlessly clean, as genuinely life-changing for people with complex disabilities.
The Golden Service Award caps off a strong couple of years for the team, who have also picked up the Partners in Cleaning, Large Estates award at the PFM Partnership Awards 2025 and multiple Loo of the Year Awards including the national Period Dignity Award. Silverburn itself has had a huge year too, being named UK Retail Destination of the Year at the SCEPTRE Awards, recognition that depends on every part of the guest experience being right, including ours.
Recognition across two very different categories says a lot about the people behind both, and we couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved.