Photo: John Brandwood
Vendman has held its inaugural ‘Centres of Excellence’ symposium at Northcote, the award-winning Relais & Chateau, Michelin starred hotel and restaurant operated by Chef Patron Nigel Howarth and his co-director Craig Bancroft.
Vendman announced its intention to create a network of ‘Centres of Excellence’ nationwide some time ago and far from the initial group becoming an elite club, Centre of Excellence status will be open to all Vendman customers, because, as MD Rob Little explained, ‘there’s no off-the-shelf template for running a vending company.’
“Each of these initial Vendman Centres of Excellence has its own way of doing things; systems that work for them”, Rob told PV. ‘The idea behind Centres of Excellence was to create something to recognise and celebrate the most innovative and effective applications of our software.”
It’s hoped that the Centres of Excellence will benefit the UK vending industry at large, as Rob explained: “Companies that don’t use Vendman yet will be invited along to regional Centres of Excellence presentations, so that they can understand for themselves how some of the country’s leading vending operators use Vendman’s industry-leading technology to control their businesses.
“When you think of the vending industry, you imagine a whole host of companies all over the country that, basically, do the same things: they service, fill, stock and maintain vending machines. So, you could be forgiven for imagining that they all conduct their business in the same way, but that’s not how it is and that’s why every single Vendman application out there is bespoke.”
Pictured
Standing, L-R: Mike Gardner, (Vending Solutions MD), Ross MacDonald, (MD Upton Group), Johnny Broderick, (MD, The Broderick Group); Alastair Balmforth, (MD Refreshment Systems), Julie Hurran, (Bulk Vending Services MD )Mark Braid, (Myrtle Coffee MD) and Andrew Steen, (Ratio Brand Distribution).
Seated, L-R: Edward Selka, (MD LTT Vending), Rob Little, (Vendman MD), Nigel Haworth, (Chef / Patron, Northcote); Daniel Hamby (Vendman Operations Director), Steve Gallagher, (MD, Gem Vending).
*An account of the event will appear soon in Planet Vending.
