The award - held in partnership with Food Manufacture as part of the Grocer Gold Awards - highlights an outstanding example of an industry leader spearheading production in any UK-based branded or own-label grocery supply operation, including food, non-food and packing. Time is running out: don't forget to get your entry in before the extended deadline!
Pladis biscuit factory general manager Brian Jones won the 2021 Factory Manager of The Year Award.
Jones is in charge of the Pladis Wigston factory near Leicester, which makes 15,000 tonnes of biscuits annually. It manufactures brands such as TeaTime (Family Circle) and Victoria assortments and employs up to 570 people in peak season.
Brian Jones's background
Jones joined Pladis in 1984 at the former McVitie’s Ashby-de-la-Zouch biscuit factory on the Youth Training Scheme, having left school without qualifications. He took on his current role in 2017.
He spent years packing biscuits, working in the warehouse, and mixing chocolate, moving to the Ashby snacks factory before seeking personal development via the company’s Operator Development Scheme.
He was then given the opportunity to cover the holidays of supervisors and quickly found a natural ability to engage with people and teams.
From there he performed in a number of permanent managerial roles, including process manager and warehouse manager before being promoted to the position of manufacturing manager and becoming a member of the site leadership team at Ashby.
The 2021 shortlist for the award
- Rob James, Princes
- Brian Jones, Pladis
- Paul Jones, Arla Foods
- Leanne Taylor, Eat Natural
- Paddy Townsend, Westaway Sausages
- Ben Wingfield, Cranswick Country Food
Entrants should be nominated by a senior manager within the business in which they work and entries should cover the following areas:
- a brief overview of the factory this person runs, such as size, location, number of employees, type of factory, sector or category;
- a brief summary of the factory manager’s career;
- insight into the thinking/problems/opportunities that underpinned the candidate’s development of the factory in this period; what strategy has the factory manager employed to deliver this?
- How has the factory manager executed the plan? What solutions has the factory manager employed?
- What were the objectives and what have been the results? Answers should include as much numerical information as possible on sales and profits growth, utilisation and efficiency metrics, health and safety figures, and other useful key performance indicators.
