The third Electrical Wholesaler Awards took place in the glittering environs of the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel, London on Thursday 12 May 2016
Hosted by Paul Sinha, star of ITV daytime quiz show, The Chase, the evening was an impressive tribute to the outstanding achievements of electrical wholesalers, manufacturers and suppliers over the past 12 months.
Entries for the Awards opened in October last year. An expert panel, chaired by Debbie Eales, the editor of Electrical Wholesaler Magazine, met in March to decide on the shortlist for the wholesaler categories and the eventual winners.
CDR Electrical was named Best Electrical Wholesaler in the 10 Branches and Under category. CDR Electrical is now a two-time winner of this award having also won this category in 2014. The judges were very impressed with the company’s customer feedback and its delivery initiatives.
Kew Electrical scooped the prize for Best Electrical Wholesaler in the 11-25 Branches category for the second year running. The Kew Management Academy was highlighted as a stand-out point and all judges praised Kew’s commitment to training and customer relations.
Best Electrical Wholesaler: 26+ Branches went to YESSS Electrical. This is YESSS Electrical’s third “26+ Branches” award and the judges were very impressed with their work not only within the industry but also their work with the community. The judges praised their rapid growth and strong customer focus, with a special mention going to its commitment to training with the YESSS Academy.
Amble Electrical Distributors (Luton) picked up the award for Best Individual Electrical Branch. Amble Electrical Distributors are first-time entrants to these awards and now are first-time winners of the ‘Best Individual Branch’ accolade. Judges highlighted Amble’s extensive work within the community as well as their service initiatives as key points leading to their win in this category.
Branch Manager of the Year went to Martin Rand of BEW Electrical Distributors, Chelmsford. It’s third time lucky for three-time finalist Martin Rand of BEW Electrical in Chelmsford as he picks up the Branch Manager of the Year Award after drawing the judges’ admiration for his leadership skills, paternal style of staff management and his adaptability with problem solving.
Cory Bates of City Electrical Factors took home this year’s Training Excellence Award. The judges selected Cory for this award based on his drive and ambition, and how he implements these qualities into improving his trade knowledge and qualifications through CEF’s Aspire Programme and additional EDA modules. The panel look forward to seeing how his career develops in the coming years as he shows great promise.
Manufacturers and suppliers entered their best and most innovative products, advertising campaigns, websites and customer service over the past 12 months. Members of the electrical wholesale industry were invited to vote online at the end of January until the end of March. Those with the most votes in each category were crowned winners on the night.
Ansell Lighting’s Panel Pod Emergency and Sensor won Best New Product, while the promotional videos for the Panel Pod Emergency and Sensor and the Orbio 360 Gimbal picked up Best Marketing Campaign.
Heat Mat also scooped two important awards on the night, one for Best Training Provider and the other Best Customer Service.
Best Supplier Website, meanwhile, went to Scolmore Group for www.scolmore.com
ML Accessories, the company behind the Knightsbridge brand was named as Best Overall Supplier and the accolades didn’t stop there. Arie Rosenfeld, founder and chairman of ML Accessories was later presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by his business partner and son, managing director Doron Rosenfeld.
Doron said: “[Arie] loves, lives and breathes our industry. He has spent his life defying logic, known for taking on challenges and embracing opportunities that most others (including myself) would shy away from. Professionally and personally I have never met anyone like him and I know this award will mean the world to him.”
Following this Tessa Ogle, managing director of The Electrical Industries Charity took to the stage to announce the winners of the evening’s raffle, which raised £1835 for the charity. Guests then left their seats to dance the night away to Kent based indie band, The Soundcasters, playing a mix of pop, jazz, reggae and rock.
Speaking afterwards, event manager Mike Gammon said: “Tonight’s shortlist saw off some very tough competition to reach the final stage; congratulations to them and our winners.
“Also, a big ‘thank you’ to our sponsors – BEG Luxomat (UK), Contactum, Lyvia Electrical, Marco Cable Management, One Electrical, Schneider Electric, Scolmore Group, ML Accessories (Knightsbridge), Shayla Electrical, Electrorad, and LGA Europe (Selectric), without whom none of this would have been possible.”
300 members of the industry turned out for the Electrical Wholesaler Awards 2016 and many have written to the team, to commend the event.
A fantastic endorsement from, Vicky Simpson of ML Accessories: “Congratulations on creating THE awards that the industry recognises as the awards to go to – it drives everyone to be better.”
Nigel Owen of Shayla Electrical said: “We had a super evening; our guests were absolutely impressed with the event. Next year we will take two tables and continue as a sponsor.”
Gerard Hall of One Electrical wrote: “A great event as usual– well done! As a great supporter of the electrical wholesaler, you can put us down for the same next year”
For more information visit www.electricalwholesalerawards.co.uk
