Bidfood Scotland, JW Filshill and United Wholesale (Scotland) each won three top awards at the prestigious Scottish Wholesale Achievers awards, held tonight (13 February) at the Sheraton Grand, Edinburgh.
Some of the winners of the Achievers 2020 awards.
Now in its 18th year, Achievers recognises innovation, professionalism and excellence across all sectors of the wholesale industry in Scotland, rewarding suppliers as well as wholesalers.
Bidfood was triumphant in the Great Place to Work category and was joint winner (with JB Foods) of Best Delivered Operation – Foodservice and also joint winner (with JW Filshill) of Best Marketing Initiative.
Filshill and CJ Lang & Son shared the Best Delivered Operation – Retail award, and Filshill also won Best Licensed Operation.
The other triple award winner, United Wholesale (Scotland), took the Best Cash & Carry accolade, along with Employee of the Year for Lorraine MacPherson, its symbol development manager, and a new award, Rising Star of Wholesale, for its operations support manager Jason Butler.
In the suppliers’ award categories, AG Barr claimed four of the five awards – Best Overall Service, Project Scotland, Best Advertising Campaign and Supplier Sales Executive of the Year for its regional business development manager Steven McGarry. AG Barr was also runner-up in the fifth supplier award, Best Foodservice Wholesaler, which was won by Unilever Food Solutions.
Colin Smith, SWA chief executive, congratulated all the winners and said: “Our industry continues to experience unprecedented change and I applaud our wholesalers and suppliers who continue to find new and innovative ways to grow their businesses and develop their staff, create new revenue streams and provide the best possible customer service.
“As your trade association, we are working on your behalf to achieve the best possible outcome for industry across a raft of legislative issues, including DRS (deposit return scheme).
“We are also working to create our very own SWA Wholesale Sustainability Charter and, of course, we have launched our new SWA Training Academy. Developing a skilled workforce and working with members to invest in the future sustainability of the wholesale industry is top of the agenda for us in our 80th anniversary year.”
Smith also announced the appointment of John Farrell, formerly of CJ Lang, Landmark and Unitas, as the SWA’s new member development & liaison officer. He will be responsible for recruiting new wholesale members and suppliers and “delivering SWA straight into the heart” of members’ businesses.
