Supply chain specialist Wincanton plc is celebrating success after being named as a winner in the prestigious North of England Business Excellence Awards 2009.
The company was presented with the Special Award for Customer and Customer Results in recognition of the operation it runs in partnership with HJ Heinz at Heinzs Kitt Green plant. The company received its award from the Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP at the annual awards dinner at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
The partnership between the two companies is entering its 13th year. Wincanton manages a dedicated 350,000 square foot automated warehouse at Kitt Green and provides national distribution for all the HJ Heinz brands through a fleet supported by the wider Wincanton network.
It has developed a range of cost-saving solutions including a unique model which gives an accurate cost of delivering individual product lines in differing pack formats. Wincanton also provides an on-site packing service, processing over 8.4 million cases for promotional purposes each year.
Entries for this years awards were amongst the highest since their launch in 1994. Organisers North of England Excellence believe this reflects greater determination by businesses to improve their competitiveness in the face of recession.
Established in 1994 in the North West, the awards were extended four years ago to also cover Yorkshire and the North East. They judge organisations against the Business Excellence Model, a management tool for assessing business performance.
David Teale, chief executive of North of England Excellence, said: The awards assessors were impressed by the way in which the Wincanton-Heinz operation has established large pockets of efficiency and excellence.
Award winners like these are setting an example to other businesses by leading the way forward in the face of recession. Organisations which can raise standards and improve their business processes and performance will be well placed to cope with the current downturn and will be in better shape when the upturn arrives.
Ms Winterton, who is the Minister for Yorkshire and The Humber and Minister for Regional Economic Development and Co-ordination, said: I congratulate the winners of these prestigious awards and thank all the businesses and organisations from the North of England who took part.
This is a great opportunity to showcase the excellent business management we have in the North of England and celebrate the commitment to continuous improvement.
The full list of winners was:
Private sector fewer than 250 employees
Brand-Rex Ltd Leigh
Private sector 250 employees or more
Liverpool Direct Ltd Liverpool
Public sector fewer than 250 employees
The Valley Community School Bolton
Public sector 250 employees or more
Cheshire Probation Area Chester
Charity and not-for-profit sector
Gentoo Group Sunderland
Special award for customer and customer results
Wincanton plc HJ Heinz NDC (Wigan) Wigan
Special award for people and people results
Contact Burnley Burnley Borough Council Burnley
Special award for leadership
Northern Rail Ltd York
Urenco Award for Corporate Social Responsibility
Manchester Airport Manchester
Business of the Year
Liverpool Direct Limited Liverpool
Add a Comment
No messages on this article yet