Gold standard

The star performers in the wholesale sector during 2009 were celebrated at the FWD Gold Medal Awards before a sell-out audience at The Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden.

The presentation ceremony was presided over by FWD chairman Francis Ball, who was joined on stage by Richard Honey, director of sales impulse at Molson Coors, which sponsored the Gold Medal Awards for wholesalers, and Philip Jenkins, managing director of Sugro UK, which sponsored the awards to suppliers. Former England cricketer and now England selector Geoff Miller announced the winners and read out a citation for each one.

The first award of the evening was the Gold Medal for Young Wholesaler of the Year, which was presented to Brian Yip, director of Wing Yip. Miller said: "Tonight's winner consistently demonstrates by his actions that it is possible to be highly successful in this industry while retaining a sense of inclusiveness and modesty. In the harshest trading environment he has delivered outstanding business results, with profit growth more than double the sector average, at the same time as extending major depots at Manchester and Cricklewood, to become the leading Chinese and ethnic food wholesaler in the UK."

Paul Mason, general manager at AG Parfett & Sons' Aintree depot, won the Gold Medal for Independent Cash and Carry Manager of the Year. Miller said: "The award this year goes to a man who manages his depot with the passion and commitment of somebody who is running their own business. During the year to June he grew the depot by a remarkable £4.7m, nearly 8%, to achieve £66m turnover, as well as improving margins. He has worked hard to support and develop existing customers and seek out new customers, and is held in high esteem by staff and customers alike."

There was a tie for the Gold Medal for the Multiple Cash and Carry Manager of the Year, so two awards were presented. The first Gold Medal was presented to Michelle Guy, general manager of Booker's Oxford depot. Miller said she takes an infectious pleasure from her role, and treats it as a way of life, rather than just a job. "Net profit at her branch is growing by more than £300,000 year on year, with turnover in excess of £27m. She has worked hard to develop customer relationships and exploit opportunities to improve both cash profit and customer satisfaction, and instill a team ethos throughout the branch."

The second Gold Medal was awarded to Sajid Mahmood, general manager of Bestway's Hackney depot. Miller said: "Since he took over his branch in 2006, sales records have been broken, increasing by 33% and taking top spot for sales and gross profit within his company, with a turnover of £75m. He puts his success down to his team, customer relations and service and availability."

The winner of the Gold Medal for Independent Delivered Depot Manager of the Year was Neil Corfield, depot manager at Creed Foodservice's Ilkeston depot. Miller said: "Our winner was transferred to run a new depot last summer and has delivered seamless integration into the business, with sales now at £14m to caterers across the Midlands and the North. He leads from the front, and has motivated his 45-strong team to be skilled, knowledgeable and passionate, with a can do attitude."

The Gold Medal for Multiple Delivered Depot Manager of the Year was awarded to Eddie Scammell, depot general manager of 3663's Worthing depot. Miller said: "Our winner leads a depot with a turnover of £82m, with profits up 28% year on year. He is known for his professionalism and integrity, with customer service and satisfaction a high priority in his depot."

AG Parfett & Sons trading director Bill Pace was awarded the Gold Medal for Wholesaler Service to Retailers. Miller said: "This year's winner is a man who has worked for his company for more than 20 years and in that time his tenacity and attention to detail has earned him huge respect from everyone in his company, their buying group and the industry as a whole. He is due to retire at the end of the year and will be a hard, if not impossible act to follow and will be greatly missed by all in the industry."

The Gold Medal for Wholesaler Service to Caterers was awarded to David Sutherland, managing director of Sutherland Brothers. Miller said: "Our winner has overseen success in terms of both sales growth and profit with consistent growth year on year. He has shown innovation and forward thinking in his systems and ways of working to make the business more efficient as well as to improve customer service. Sales are up 35% on last year, and he recently won a major contract with InBev for their on trade business."

The Gold Medals for suppliers are awarded on a first past the post vote by wholesalers, in a process that is supervised by external chartered accountants.

The Gold Medal for Drinks Brand of the Year was won by Miller Brands for Peroni, which has carried out extensive promotional work in depots and seen sales rise as a result. The Gold Medal was presented to Miller Brands' national account controller, cash and carry, Liam Fidler.

Cadbury won the Gold Medal for Grocery Brand of the Year for Wispa, which according to Cadbury is the UK's number one single serve chocolate bar in its first year back on shelf. The Gold Medal was presented to Cadbury sales director Jamie Dunning.

The Gold Medal for Foodservice Brand of the Year was awarded to Tetley Tea and it was presented to senior business manager Peter Brown.

In the awards for service levels both Cadbury and Tetley scored a second win. The Gold Medal for Service to Retail was awarded to Cadbury and collected by Jamie Dunning, and Peter Brown was presented with Tetley's Gold Medal for Service to Foodservice.

The Gold Medal for the Best Trade Advertising in the FWD's magazine, Wholesale News, was won by Nestlé UK and was presented to trade communications manager Graham Walker.

A Special Gold Medal was presented to Alan Toft in recognition of his contribution to the development of the FWD. Miller said: "All in the wholesale industry owe him a huge debt of gratitude for the way he built the FWD to be a truly representative trade body." As FWD director general Toft launched ProWholesaler magazine, which was recently relaunched as Wholesale News, and set up the Catersummit and Drinksummit conferences as well as leading development of the FWD TakeHome Blueprint. After retiring as director-general in 2005 he led the My Shop is Your Shop campaign, before stepping down at the end of 2009.