The team, which are part of the council’s own in-house Civic Catering service, won the Best Service Team award in a ceremony at Nottingham Ice Arena on September 11th.
Councillor Peter Mole, Gateshead’s Cabinet member for Culture, Sport and Leisure, said: “This is a fantastic achievement. The team has come a long way in a very short time.
“Bringing this service back in-house has meant that we can apply the considerable skills and talents of our own Civic Catering team to transform what was simply a café into an increasingly-popular visitor destination.
“For some of them, this has been a personal voyage so I am delighted that their dedication and imagination has now been rightly rewarded.”
Paul O'Brien, chief executive of APSE, added: “Tough times demand innovative and entrepreneurial responses to protect public service delivery and ensure that councils can share best practice amongst each other.
“These service awards reward those councils, and their frontline service teams, who have gone above and beyond good service to deliver excellence in local public services.”
The catering service at Saltwell Towers was brought back in-house in April 2013. Since then the former Victorian mansion within Gateshead’s Saltwell Park has been re-born as a popular café for park-goers, as a venue for elegant afternoon teas and exclusive pop-up restaurants, and as an increasingly-popular wedding reception venue.
The council’s in-house Civic Catering team oversees a range of catering outlets under its Bewicks brand, including the restaurant and coffee shop at Gateshead Civic Centre, libraries, and Saltwell Towers.
Civic Catering recently retained its Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation with the assessor noting that the service ‘is being run with the vigour of a private sector business and the quality of a high street chain whilst never losing sight of the diverse needs of their customers’.
Built in 1859 at the height of Britain’s gothic revival, Saltwell Towers is the former home of the distinguished stained glass manufacturer William Wailes, who lived there until his death in 1881. His estate now forms what we know today as Saltwell Park
During the First World War, Saltwell Towers was used as a military convalescent hospital and then from 1933 to 1969 as a museum until serious structural problems forced its closure and it was eventually abandoned.
A five-year £3m re-building programme began in 1999 to restore Saltwell Towers to its former Victorian glory and it eventually re-opened in July 2004 as a café and function venue.
The awards, which are presented annually by APSE, are organised to recognise the very best in local government frontline service.