Friday 11th March 2016
Putting the Best into Bestway
Bestway Wholesale rewarded the exceptional efforts of staff and suppliers as over 400 guests saluted its heroes of wholesale at the Bestway Performance Awards yesterday (Thursday 10th March) at a glittering ceremony at the Marriot in London’s Grosvenor Square.
The Bestway Performance Awards recognises and rewards the achievements of Bestway and Batleys staff across a host of sectors including own-label, catering and export sales as well as rewarding staff and departments at head office level for their performance in 2015. Heineken UK, Britvic Soft Drinks and Coca Cola Enterprises also received worthy recognition in the Supplier of the Year awards.
Scooping the top awards were Stevie Wilkie for Depot of the Year (Bestway Batleys Glasgow), Shahid Akbar of Bestway Darwen (Manager of the Year) with Stuart Griggs and Gary Black of Coca-Cola Enterprises walking away with Overall Supplier of the Year.
Zameer Choudrey CBE, Bestway Group’s chief executive, commented, “ At Bestway Wholesale, we value the role staff play in putting the best into Bestway and that’s why occasions such as tonight are incredibly important for us. We sometimes forget the contribution that individuals make to the business – but, in fact, these are the people who make the difference within the business. From pickers to delivery drivers and from BDEs to depot staff, these are the people who are at the coalface of the business and play an integral role in engaging and building our relationships with customers. We are extremely fortunate to have a wealth and depth of talent across our wholesale business and I thank every one of them for the contribution they have made.”
Stevie Wilkie, general manager for winning depot Bestway Batleys Glasgow was delighted with the award. “2015 was a landmark year for the Glasgow depot. After the fanfare of opening in 2014, it was really important that we kept up the fantastic work to keep customers coming back and spreading the word about how the depot could benefit the local business community. That’s three awards in four months and while I’ll happily take the plaudits, it really has been a total team effort with every single member of the team contributing. So this award is for them and all our customers who come back day after day and have helped us maintain our terrific start in Glasgow.”
Bestway Darwen’s Shahid Akbar was equally thrilled if a little more taken aback. “It really is a fantastic surprise given the quality of management within Bestway. To be named manager of the year really is the pinnacle of my business life. I have been at Bestway for a long time and still remember my first day in 2001 as a Cash & Carry Assistant. It just goes to show that with hard work and commitment, wholesale offers a fantastic career opportunity and I would like to thank the directors for the faith they have place in me. However this would not have been possible without my staff and customers with whom I will share this award”
Roll of Honour
Branch of the Year – Bestway Batleys Glasgow
Branch Manager of the Year - Shahid Akbar, Bestway Darwen
Catering Branch of the Year - Bellevue Edinburgh
Club/Symbol Branch of the Year - Bestway Team Valley.
Web Branch of the Year - Bestway Brighton
Export Branch of the year - Bestway Liverpool
Own Label Branch of the Year - Batleys Cambuslang
World Foods Branch of the Year - Bestway Luton
Group Head Office Employee of the Year - Syed Zeeshan Haider, Senior Analyst
Group Head Office Department of the Year - Marketing and Digital
Overall Supplier of the Year - Coca Cola Enterprises
Most Innovative Supplier of the Year - Britvic Soft Drinks
Most Improved Supplier of the Year - Heineken UK Ltd.
Overall Supplier of the Year - Coca Cola Enterprises