2011 UK WORKER OF THE YEAR - FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

The six finalists for the title of UK Worker of the Year have now been announced, as competition organisers, Dickies, move a significant step closer to selecting Britain's number one worker for 2011 - from across the nation's workforce.

Similar to last year, they represent a wide range of professions and a wide geographical spread. They are: Paul Crowe - a chef from Shrewsbury; Sam Gibbon - an electrician from Newport; Emily Jones - a lollipop lady from Southport; Jason Lawrence - an AV sales manager from Abingdon; Anna Simpson - a charity support worker from Buxton and Jan Whelan - a teacher from Liverpool.

UK Worker of the Year is now in its second year of looking to recognise, reward and promote excellence in the British workforce and the word has spread wider than everbefore about both the competition and what is involved. “The standard of entries has been noticeably stronger than in 2010,” enthuses Maurice Morton, European Sales and Marketing Director for the world-renowned workwear firm.“So, it has actually been more difficult to select the finalists - but I think that reflects well on the competition and how seriously people are taking it.”

The prizes on offer to those people who best embody what doing a good job is all about, no doubt constitute a considerable incentive to enter. The winner gets their choice of Renault family hatchback, MPV or a Van, worth £18,000. Other prizes are on offer include thousands of pounds worth of holidays for the runners up as well as a host of high quality workwear from Dickies.

But, as the UK's 2010 Worker of the Year, John Stone comments, winning the competition is much more than simply taking one of the great prizes on offer: “Beingrecognised as UK Worker of the Year has been a really big thing for me - it's been a massive confidence boost and really is something truly life changing.”

John is one of the judges for the 2011 competition and he will join panel Chairman - TV Presenter and Consumer Motoring Champion - Quentin Willson and the other judges at the world famous Pinewood Film studios in October to select this year's UK Worker of the Year.

“The competition concept - seeking out and promoting what's great in our workforce - reminded me last year how much we have to be proud of in the UK,” states Quentin Willson. “I was hugely impressed by the people who made it through to the final and I am really looking forward to meeting this year's finalists.”

General details of the initiative can be found at the UK Worker of the Year website www.ukworkeroftheyear.com