In December, we invited everyone to nominate their colleagues for the 2025 We Are Menzies Awards.

When the nominations closed, we received more than 6,000 nominations globally, an increase of around 75% from last year’s nominations! From spotting aircraft damage, through to helping lost customers and implementing innovative recycling solutions, the wide range of nominations showcase the commitment of our colleagues who go above and beyond every day.

The Executive Team had the difficult job of deciding the global winners from the regional finalists. I’m delighted to announce our employee of the year and the global values awards winners.

Employee of the Year

Pictured above, Issouf Ouattara, an HSSE Supervisor based in Denver, USA and winner of the global Teamwork award was chosen as our employee of the year. Issouf joined NAS in 2019 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire and was based there until 2023 when he immigrated to the USA with his family and joined our Denver team.

Last year, Issouf volunteered to go to San Francisco (SFO) for two weeks of temporary duty. On the request of the SFO leadership team, his stay was extended to more than two months due to his teamwork, fuelling knowledge, commitment to safety, and all-around great attitude. Congratulations Issouf on your very well-deserved win!

Our values awards celebrate colleagues living our values and going above and beyond every day.

Values Award winners

	Safety & Security Bernardo Santos, Porto (OPO), Portugal – for reporting damage to an aircraft not handled by Menzies that hadn’t been spotted by the dispatcher or pushback operator, and potentially saving hundreds of lives.
	Teamwork Issouf Ouattara, Denver (DEN), USA – for extending his temporary assignment from two weeks to more than two months and his outstanding teamwork, knowledge, commitment to safety and positive attitude.
	Integrity Ali Musa & Hussein Yasser, Baghdad (BGW), Iraq – for their high ethical standards and setting the example for other colleagues when they found and returned large sums of cash on an aircraft.
	Agility McKeba McAdam, Montego Bay (MBJ), Jamaica – for her proactive approach to leading, organising and managing stations to comply with Menzies Aviation training standards, including scheduling and reporting.
	Customer Focus Teresa Narciso, Lisbon (LIS), Portugal – for going the extra mile for passengers lost at Lisbon airport, including accompanying them until they boarded their flight.
	Sustainability Rania Bara, Gothenburg (GOT), Sweden – for implementing important procedures to improve how the lounge handles waste, ensuring proper sorting and recycling, and food control systems to minimise food waste.

Look out for more details on each of our winners on the UKG Pro app and We Are Menzies in the next few weeks.

Congratulations again to all of winners, regional finalists and nominees and thank you to everyone who took the time to recognise their colleagues. It was inspiring to see the huge range of ways that colleagues across the globe have demonstrated our values.

Best wishes,

Juliet Thomson
Chief People Officer