United Wholesale (Scotland), the Glasgow-based cash and carry and delivered wholesaler has been named the best wholesale business at the Scottish Wholesale Achievers awards.
The company (pictured above), which operates depots at Queenslie in the east end of Glasgow, Maxwell Road in the city’s southside and M9 Cash & Carry near Grangemouth, fended off competition from businesses the length and breadth of Scotland to win the sought-after Champion of Champions accolade.
Kate Salmon, executive director of the Edinburgh-based SWA (pictured second row, far left), said: ‘Recognising and promoting best practice is our aim and Achievers does this with integrity. A key part of this is consulting with wholesalers and suppliers and although our awards have evolved over the years, our high values across all aspects of the competition have remained and we will continue to build on this in partnership with entrants, supplier sponsors and independent judges.’
Organised by the Scottish Wholesale Association, Achievers recognises professionalism and excellence across all sectors of the wholesale industry in Scotland.
The awards presentation ceremony, hosted by BBC and CIS Excellence Awards co-presenter Catriona Shearer, took place at the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa Edinburgh last Thursday.
The full list of winners is as follows:
The Champion of Champions Winner: United Wholesale (Scotland) Great Place to Work Winner: Fáilte Foods, Glasgow Runner-Up: United Wholesale (Scotland) Highly Commended: Bidvest Foodservice Scotland Best Cash & Carry Depot Winner: United Wholesale Grocers, Springburn Runner-up: Bestway Batleys, Glasgow (former Sher Brothers depot) Highly Commended: United Wholesale (Scotland), Queenslie Best Delivered Operation (Retail) Winner: JW Filshill, Glasgow Runner-up: United Wholesale (Scotland) Highly Commended: Iain Hill Best Symbol Group Winner: United Wholesale (Scotland), Day-Today Runner-up: JW Filshill, KeyStore Highly Commended: United Wholesale Grocers, Lifestyle Best Delivered Operation (Foodservice) Winner: Dunns Food and Drinks Runner-up: Bidvest Foodservice Scotland Highly Commended: Fáilte Foods and Lomond Fine Foods Best Licensed Operation Winner: United Wholesale (Scotland) Runner-up: Bestway Batleys Highly Commended: Sutherland Brothers Best Marketing Initiative Winner: United Wholesale (Scotland) for its initiative to advertise and promote its revamped M9 Cash & Carry Runner-up: United Wholesale Grocers for its new website and customer service app Highly Commended: Fáilte Foods for the launch of its click & collect service plus its customer and digital interaction Employee of the Year Winner: Jason McLeod, fresh food specialist, United Wholesale (Scotland) Runner-up: Derrick Richardson, EPOS manager, JW Filshill Highly Commended: Irene Maitland, stock controller, Bidvest Foodservice Scotland Best Advertising Campaign Winner: The Famous Grouse ‘Full of Character’ Project Scotland Winner: AG Barr for the relaunch of Irn-Bru Runner-up: Innis & Gunn for its project to support the launch of its craft lager in 500ml cans Highly Commended: Lucozade Ribena Suntory for its initiative to deliver a better service to delivered wholesalers Best Overall Service by Suppliers Winner: AB InBev Runner-up: AG Barr Highly Commended: Heineken Supplier Sales Executive of the Year Winner: Fiona Nisbet, Mars Chocolate Runner-up: Linda Fraser, Nestlé UK Highly Commended: Archie MacLellan, JTI