Walking tall at the Hilton: winners Ian Johnson, (Coffeetek MD) and vending legend John Broderick celebrate success.
HERE IT IS FOLKS, THE OFFICIAL, POST VIAs PRESS RELEASE FROM THE AVA!
The inaugural Vending Industry Awards took place last Wednesday night, at a glittering gala dinner and ceremony at the Hilton Metropole Hotel at the NEC Birmingham. The evening was attended by 449 guests, making it the largest vending industry gathering in the UK in 10 years. The event was a celebration and acknowledgement of the hard work and excellent service provided by outstanding individuals and businesses in the sector.
Guests enjoyed a champagne reception and delicious three course meal. The evening was hosted by comedian Ian Moore and the Awards were followed by a “Night at The Movies” musical extravaganza, which had everyone on the dance floor until the early hours.
Industry members were invited to nominate manufacturers, suppliers or operators for a variety of award categories. The shortlist, which was picked by the judges, was then posted online for industry members to choose who they wanted to win. The judges were Hannah Dedman, Publishing Director of Datateam Business Media; Jonathan Hilder, CEO of the AVA; Simon Willis, former Chairman of the AVA; James Anderton, Chairman of the EDWCA and David Hoskins who currently works for the AVA and the European Vending Association.
The winners were:
Route Operator of the Year (Sponsored by Vendman)
Winner – Louise Doggett from Cambridge Vending.
Louise said:
“I’m absolutely over the moon that I have been honoured with this award.”
Highly commended – Tina Coules from Express Vending
Service Engineer of the Year (Sponsored by N&W Global Vending Ltd)
Winner – James Husband from Express Vending
James said:
“I’m delighted to win this award.”
Highly commended – Nick Norris from Crane Payment Solutions
Vending Supervisor of the Year (Sponsored by Barry Callebaut)
Winner – Debbie Edge from Express Vending
Debbie said:
“I feel fantastic!”
Highly commended – Tricia Connelly from Excel Vending Ltd
Best Local Operating Company (Sponsored by Brita Water)
Winner – Care Vending Ltd
Highly commended – Apple Vending and Catering Services Ltd and Excel Vending Ltd
Best Regional Operating Company (Sponsored by Lavazza)
Joint Winners – Express Vending and Brodericks / Manchester Vending
A spokesperson from Brodericks said:
“We’re very proud to win this award.”
Highly commended – Abercromby Vending Ltd
Best Ancillary Service to the Industry (Sponsored by Modelez International)
Winner – Nebrak
Paul Howard, MD of Nebrak said:
“I’m absolutely delighted to win this award. My team are superb and I’m really lucky to have them.”
Highly commended – Siemens Financial Services
Best Machine Company (Sponsored by Siemens)
Winner – Coffeetek
Ian from Coffeetek (on the right of the picture) said:
“Thank you!”
Highly commended – PHS Waterlogic
Best Components Company (Sponsored by Walkers/Pepsico)
Winner – Pureflo Ltd
Linda from Pureflo Ltd said:
“I’m absolutely thrilled, mainly on behalf of my customers who voted for us. I just think it’s wonderful. Thank you.”
Highly commended – H20 Direct
Best Vending Ingredients or Cup Company (Automatic Retailing)
Winner – Douwe Egberts
Paul Freeman from Douwe Egberts said:
“This has been a fantastic effort from the whole team at Douwe Egberts. We really believe that the vending market needs to upgrade its offer and we believe that the concept we have brought to the market will really help align the vending industry with the high street.”
Highly Commended –Lavazza Coffee UK Ltd
Lifetime achievement award (Sponsored by Vianet)
David Hoskin
David Hoskin was a director of the Mars Company Four Square and has been Chairman of the AVA, the EVA and AVEX. He has also been responsible for the collation of the industry statistics for the AVA census. Currently working for the EVA, David is collating the European vending market report.
David said
“I feel honoured to win this award. It is a tough industry, but despite that, when you have events such as this it is apparent that we have some really terrific people in vending.”
University Food Development Award for Best Product (Sponsored by Unilever)
Gail Pastries
The team said:
“We are absolutely delighted and we want to thank UCB (University College Birmingham) for giving us this opportunity.”
University Food Development Award for Best Marketing Campaign (Sponsored by Nebrak)
Dog in a Box
The team said:
“We didn’t expect this at all. To win this is perfect. It’s great!”
Hannah Dedman, Publishing Director, Vending International commented:
“The Vending Industry Awards were first discussed between myself, Jonathan Hilder and Brian Tustain, Board Director of the AVA, in 2011 and we all agreed there was a need for the industry awards that would run for the industry by the industry. In our experience of launching awards, myself and my team were amazed at the response we received to the awards and last night’s attendance. It is a record high for a new award launch.”
Jonathan Hilder, CEO, Automatic Vending Association (AVA) added:
“I am delighted and overwhelmed by the amazing attendance at last night’s inaugural awards. The quality of the award entries was simply outstanding and made the judging all the harder. I personally interviewed all the winners and was so impressed by the hard work and dedication they all contribute towards this industry. This was exactly why we wanted to hold these awards – to recognise and honour those committed to providing the highest levels of service across the industry.”