by A street cleaner is set for a dream vacation after his bosses apparently backed down from their resistance to accepting a trip as recognition for a job well done.
Paul Spiers, 63, was the focus of a fundraising campaign by residents of Beckenham, south London, who wanted to send him on holiday for his loyal service to the region.
However, his employer, waste management company Veolia, refused to accept the £3,000 he had collected because they believed it was a breach of his working conditions.
The decision has made Spiers a high-profile case for those who believed he was a victim of corporate bureaucracy. Liam Conlon, the MP for Beckenham and Penge, took up his case and expressed his disappointment at the matter. and called on Bromley Council, which has been working with Veolia, to find a “sensible” solution.
Veolia blamed this on its contract with Bromley Council, which “does not allow our employees to accept money or incentives outside of the agreed salary structures”. Bromley Council said this was a matter for Veolia and its employees.
Instead, the company donated to charity, named Spiers Bromley Employee of the Quarter and refused to back down on the issue. That seemed to settle the matter until travel company On the Beach spotted an opportunity for publicity.
They “held a competition” for a holiday where you had to love Elvis, be between 62 and 64 years old, have the surname Spiers, be a street cleaner in Beckenham and be loved by the local community. Strangely, there were no other entrants and Spiers, who is an Elvis fan, “won”.
However, the cleaning service was unwilling to accept the holiday unless Veolia specifically approved it. The company was perhaps looking for a way out of a PR disaster in which it was portrayed as a corporate spoilsport. Veolia allowed him to accept the travel company’s “prize”, a holiday voucher worth £3,000.
Lisa Knight, a local estate agent and friend of Spiers who set up the fundraiser, broke the good news to him as he sat on a bench in Beckenham High Street, where locals now ask to take selfies with him. On average, he takes 23,000 steps a day.
Spires told The Times: “I am really looking forward to the holiday and never thought it would come to this.
“I didn’t know I was appreciated. I thought I was just coming here to do my job. I bought a speaker because it was too quiet. I started playing it and people loved it. They danced behind me.
Everyone has been telling me how good I am at my job and I’m so happy that they see me doing my best. I’ve learned to just be myself and keep doing what I’m doing.”
Knight, who runs the local branch of John D Wood, said she was “overwhelmed” by the result. Spires will be taking his brother David on holiday to Albufeira in Portugal and already has the weather forecast for the area on his phone.
He added: “I would love to go on a boat trip around the island, which I couldn’t afford last time. I would love to see dolphins, but I won’t go as I can’t swim. Last time we went to the old town, I loved walking through the archway to the beach for a coffee and a bit of sightseeing.”
David was “laughing his head off” at all the publicity and thought it was great for Paul, Knight said.
On the Beach, a package holiday company, said Spiers would receive a voucher that he could redeem for any holiday and flight he wanted.
A representative from Veolia said: “We have been informed that Paul has won a competition and we can confirm that we have no objection to accepting his prize. We are very grateful for the support and recognition that the community has shown to Paul, who, along with a hard-working street cleaning team, does a fantastic job keeping Bromley’s streets clean.
“Our position on funds raised by the community has not changed and the decision on what happens with that money rests with the fundraiser. Veolia has doubled the amount raised up to Friday 9 August and this will be donated to cancer research, a charity very close to Paul’s heart.”
