Coca-Cola boss wins management Oscar

Trevor Newman received the trophy from Food Manufacture editor Rick Pendrous during an awards celebration, hosted by star TV presenter Carol Smillie, at The Hilton Park Lane hotel, in London.

This award recognises the operational achievements of the site managers and directors featured in the Me and My Factory series of profiles published in Food Manufacture magazine and FoodManufacture.co.uk over the past year.

Responsible for the production of more than 100M cases of product a year, Newman impressed the judging panel with his dedication to making efficiency improvements and inspired leadership and staff motivation. Ensuring staff understand their contribution to the business is always a top priority.

‘Wildly important goals’

A man on the move, Newman has earned five different promotions in more than 11 years at the company. Formerly operations director at CCEP Sidcup, Newman believes the pathway to productivity is focus, and encourages his team to laser in on the “wildly important goals”.

These are the ones that matter most for achieving weekly and annual objectives at any level or position on site, he said. Having achieved the highest employee engagement score across all of the CCEP’s sites while at Wakefield, Newman is a big believer in recognition, taking the time to congratulate staff on goals achieved whenever possible.

Five other finalists were shortlisted for this award from manufacturers including Bells Food Group and Kellogg. Read the full shortlist in the box below.

Five other finalists

Highly-commended is this category was Frank Bird, operations director, Délifrance UK (Southall). The judges praised Bird’s delivery of a multimillion investment project that included a new stone-baked bread line, an innovation lab and a 500-pallet dry goods warehouse.

The overall title Food Manufacture company of the year was won by Mash Direct, after it first collected the Chilled and Fresh category.

Mash Direct was the judges’ unanimous choice for its new product development, inspired category management and production efficiencies.

The Food Manufacture Personality of the Year title went to 2 Sisters Food Group technical learning and development manager Janette Graham for her pioneering work in developing the government’s new Trailblazer apprenticeship programme for the food and drink sector.

This year’s Venice­-themed FMEAs award ceremony took place on the evening of Wednesday, November 2. Read the full list of winners and finalists here.

Meanwhile, register your interest for next year’s awards here.