With the launch of its Innovation Award, Young Person of the Year Award, and Depot of the Year Award, UKIFDA is now searching for the most innovative products, services or initiatives, as well as the most outstanding young employee aged 25 or under, and the depot with the highest standards or making the biggest improvements.
“We’re excited and proud to have launched our trio of awards in the run-in to UKIFDA EXPO on 27 and 28 April – and can’t wait to find and celebrate the worthy winners,” says Ken Cronin, UKIFDA chief executive.
“The last couple of years have been challenging for every sector and business due to the Covid pandemic and we wanted to acknowledge the incredible achievements and efforts of our UKIFDA Member distributor companies, as well as individuals within our industry, with our bumper awards line up.”
A significant positive contribution
The Innovation Award 2022 is sponsored by industry magazine Fuel Oil News and is designed to find and celebrate the most innovative product or service that makes the fuel distribution industry stand out.
Now in its second year, the Innovation Award was won last year by Cornwall-based liquid fuel distributor Mitchell & Webber for making a big difference in the industry-wide drive for renewable liquid fuel to become a viable alternative to heating oil for off-grid properties.
Ken Cronin adds: “Given the ongoing success of the hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) demonstrations across the country which are proving just what a great alternative HVO can be to heating oil, we’re both proud and incredibly excited to have begun our search for the person or company that’s made the most positive contribution to our industry during the last year and look forward to reading the nominations when they start to come through.”
Recognising the talent coming through
“It’s also important to recognise and commend the success of young employees in our industry who are going above and beyond what is expected of them on a daily basis – which we are doing with our Young Person of the Year Award.”
Sponsored by UKIFDA, the Young Person of the Year Award was launched in 2021 and was won last year by 24-year-old Emily Yates of Craggs Energy for championing diversity in the sector and for her incredible efforts and achievement records for customer service.
The Depot of the Year Award is sponsored once again in 2022 by Pen Underwriting, a specialist insurer of fuel distributors which has been committed to providing insurance and risk management solutions tailored to its chosen sectors for over 30 years.
Setting the highest standards
Ian Summerfield, commercial director of Pen Underwriting’s Hazardous Goods and Environmental business, comments: “On behalf of Pen Underwriting, we are extremely proud of our long-standing relationship with UKIFDA and its members. We are delighted to sponsor the 2022 Depot of the Year award and publicly recognise those teams who are leaders in their field. We are acutely aware of the cost, hard work and dedication put in by every member of a fuel business to meet exacting safety and operating standards.”
To win the Depot of the Year Award 2022, depots have to demonstrate the ways in which they are leading their field, setting the highest of standards and/or making the biggest improvements in health and safety or operating procedures.
Every depot that has been successfully audited by UKIFDA technical manager Tony Brown under the UKIFDA Depot Certification Scheme in the past 12 months is automatically entered into the Depot of the Year competition.
“The audits cover 15 sections, including yard and tank storage, health and safety management, transport, and environmental management,” comments Tony Brown.
“In addition, as part of an audit, we examine how the depot is performing compared to the expected standards in the industry, the productivity and knowledge of the depot staff, and how up-to-date site maintenance records are.”
The winners of all 3 awards, together with the Driver of the Year Award and Green Award, will be announced at the Reunion Dinner during UKIFDA EXPO on 27 April 2022.
Ken Cronin comments: “It’s wonderful to be back to a physical UKIFDA EXPO in 2022 after 3 years. Having our fantastic line-up of awards for companies, innovations, depots, drivers and young employees as well as green initiatives, means we can all enjoy an even greater celebration of our industry’s successes during the past year.”
For more information on the 2022 Innovation Award, Young Person of the Year Award, or Depot of the Year Award, or to submit a nomination, contact UKIFDA membership and events manager Dawn Shakespeare on 07860 773952 or email ds@ukifda.org Tickets for the Reunion Dinner on 27 April 2022 at UKIFDA EXPO can also be obtained by contacting Dawn Shakespeare.
The closing date for entries for the Innovation and Young Person of the Year awards is 7 March 2022.
