The Greencore boss‘s achievements were recognised in front of hundreds of industry guests, as he collected the trophy from award sponsor Shankar Narayanan, country manager UK and Ireland from Tata Consultancy Services. They were joined on stage by the awards host and star TV presenter Mark Durden-Smith on the evening of Thursday November 20.
In this video, Coveney said the trophy was a tribute to the dedication, commitment and skills of Greencore’s entire 7,000 plus workforce.
The personality award celebrates the man or woman who has made a key contribution to the food and drink manufacturing sector over the past year – whether by brokering deals, transforming the fortunes of his or her business or simply delivering exceptional results.
The shortlist was prepared by the Food Manufacture Group editorial team. Nominations were shared with the readers of FoodManufacture.co.uk who voted for their favourite candidate.
‘Considerable skill’
Commenting after the readers had made their selection, Food Manufacture editor Rick Pendrous praised Coveney's impressive record of achievement, since his appointment as chief executive in March 2008. “Patrick has demonstrated considerable skill in raising the chilled convenience food firm’s fortunes,” he said.
“Most recently, he navigated a change in strategy within the its US business, moving to one based on ‘food-to-go,’ which is now being further developed in the UK market.
Also shortlisted in this category were: Charlie Bigham, founder of posh ready meals manufacturer Charlie Bigham, Gavin Darby, chief executive Premier Foods, Chris Elliott, professor of food safety, Institute for Global Food Security Queens University Belfast, Helen and Lisa Tse, founders of Chinese free-from sauce specialist Sweet Mandarin and Andy Wood, chief executive of brewery Adnams.
Premier Foods
Previous winners have included: Richard Clothier, md of Britain‘s largest independent cheese producer Wyke Farms, TV personality Jimmy Doherty and Helen Colley from Farmhouse Fare.
Read the full list of winners and finalists in the FMEAs 2014 here.
The annual FMEAs, organised by William Reed Business Media’s Food Manufacture Group, now in their 14th year, have become the premier event in the food and drink manufacturing calendar.
Meanwhile, could your food and drink business be among next year’s winners? Give your firm a head start by registering your interest in the FMEAs 2015 here. It may prove your first step on a winning journey to collect a trophy next year.