Yorkshire’s bounty
The annual winners of the 2019/20 CEO and COO Awards have been announced. Co-sponsored by CEO, Stuart Simpson, and COO, Achim Dünnwald, the awards recognise and reward excellence in our operational units.
Yorkshire Distribution Centre (YDC) is this year’s proud winner of the ‘National Operations Unit of the Year’ award.
The team received a visit from Achim to receive prizes of gold lanyards, pin badges, a special commemorative plaque and breakfast to celebrate their outstanding achievements.
YDC plant manager, Paul Hobden, said: ‘What a hugely proud day it was for me as plant manager when Achim presented us with the award. Everyone here has contributed to this award and they fully deserve it for all their hard work.
‘We’re all very proud to be named National Operations Unit of the Year. The whole team from management to the frontline and our CWU reps have worked extremely hard together throughout 2019/20 to deliver a great customer service.’
Paul said the secret behind YDC’s success was their ability to work well together and give frontline colleagues a real say on how change is implemented in the unit.
‘Rather than it just being managers deploying improvement projects, the frontline at YDC are fully involved and in several cases, their ideas have been deployed successfully,’ said Paul. ‘We have seen a huge increase in parcel volumes, at times 80 per cent more than Peak last year, which the team have handled magnificently to ensure the delivery of our customer promise.
‘The past 12 months have been challenging but rewarding. I have a great team around me, who are very motivated to ensure we are successful, and our scorecard reflects this. Many of our key customers such as, Boots, Superdrug, Dixons and Marks and Spencer have acknowledged the great work we’ve done.
‘The Covid-19 crisis has obviously presented us with many new challenges, but we have overcome them together by sharing ideas and implementing solutions. I’m proud of the way my team works together and look forward to the next year being just as successful.’
The CEO and COO Awards take place throughout the year at quarterly intervals, with prizes awarded to the highest achieving units at the end of the year.
A huge congratulations to all our best performing 2019/20 CEO and COO award-winning units. They include:
- Large Delivery Office of the Year: Goldsworth Park Delivery Office
- Small Delivery Office of the Year: Forest Gate Delivery Office
- National Operations Unit of the Year: Yorkshire Distribution Centre
- Special Recognition Award: Penzance Delivery Office
- Award for Going Above and Beyond: Worksop Delivery Office
- Most Improved Unit of the Year: Rotherhithe and Southwark Delivery Office
