The three factory managers have made it through to the grand final of the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards, with one of them set to take home the Factory Manager of the Year 2025.
The finalists not only managed to impress in stage one of the competition (online written entries), but also a second interview stage.
The successful candidates each presented to the judges and were then faced with a Q&A session.
Matt Hill, Charlie Bigham’s
Matt Hill joined Charlie Bigham’s as general manager of its Quarry Kitchen in September 2022.
In a short period of time Hill has implemented successful improvements within the business, including prioritising employee retention, engagement and development.
Charlie Bigham’s is a certified ‘Great Place to Work’ and under his guidance scores have surged to 84%. Furthermore, he has significantly improved employee retention in the last 12 months.
One of the most challenging areas for the business is the recruitment of future leaders. Hill has focused on tackling this issue by introducing a ‘Trainee Team Leader’ programme to enable potential future leaders to gain experience in the role. As part of this, he is also implementing new initiatives to tackle the gender imbalance in team structure and encourage more women into the management team.
Hill told the judges: “Seeing the next generation come through is really exciting for me.”
He has also used his extensive experience to enable the company to shift focus towards the automation of some manual processes, including a new automated packaging area.
“He has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, enthusiasm, and a profound understanding of our manufacturing processes,” the company said in his application for the award.
The Factory Manager of the Year judges said they were impressed with the impact he has had on improving Quarry Kitchen in such a short period of time, including a strong focus on consistent quality and the championing of equality and diversity.
There was a great balance between a data driven informed decision maker that collaborated with people and wanted to develop that pipeline of talent. He is championing and pioneering that next level of leadership. The investment in long term training plans for the team and training the next generation was a stand-out.
The judging panel
Arianne Langham, Fudge Kitchen
Arianne Langham has worked at Fudge Kitchen for three decades, starting out in retail and working her way through the business to become production site manager at its Kent facility.
The business supplies some of the UK’s most iconic department stores, luxury hotels and speciality food retailers, and has faced the challenge of scaling production to meet increasing demand.
Langham has taken this challenge in her stride focusing on cross-team collaboration and streamlining processes, which has tripled weekly output without compromising on quality.
One of her primary focuses has been to develop the operational flow and processes from the ground up. This has meant that every step of the process, from ingredient sourcing to the final packaging, can operate as efficiently as possible.
In her award application Langham said: “Keeping the team motivated and productive at Fudge Kitchen is something I take a lot of pride in.”
She is passionate about the company’s sustainability efforts and has spearheaded the shift from using a Chinese packaging supplier to an eco-friendly, UK-based manufacturer, which has also been adopted by some of its customers.
Innovation is core, with Langham also working on a new shelf-life extension and product stability project in collaboration with the University of Greenwich.
Judges commented on her “undoubted business understanding” and her “passion” for really getting the most out of people both from a development and delivery point of view.
Her passion for quality came through and her sheer connection with her team and the business. It comes from an authentic place of loving what she does, living the business and being appreciative of the team. For such a small company to be innovating in packaging to the degree that they were actually influencing some quite high-profile quality retailers and changing their approach was really impressive.
The judging panel
Judges also said that Arianne’s future plans to engage with universities and research projects was “extraordinary and aspirational for a business of that size”.
Zaggy Zachariou, Pilgrim’s Europe
Transforming the Pilgrim’s Europe’s Linton facility has been the responsibility of Linton site director Zaggy Zachariou for the last 18 years.
Zachariou started work in the food sector at the age of 8 helping to cut chips in the family fish and chip shop. He was running the shop at 16.
By the time he entered the meat sector he already had the tools and knowledge needed to work in the industry. After working his way up to factory manager, he now runs the Pilgrim’s Europe’s Linton facility, which employs 270 people and has 8 production lines.
He takes pride in the fact he has created a family cultured businesses that has also helped to drive quality and productivity. He ensures staff are engaged within the business and he has even adapted to the labour market - hiring people whose English isn’t strong and providing training in their native languages and validating their comprehension.
Zachariou told the judges: “I really care about the workforce. I really truly believe that if the workforce is happy that will give you good safety behaviour and it will give you great quality products because they care about what they do.”
Continuous improvement of the business is also a major focus. There have been several upgrades during his time at the factory including the company’s first ever in-house gravy and sauce production facility, which not only generates additional revenue but also allows the company to offer more products to its customers.
He also drove a major improvement with a switch to alginate casings derived from seaweed for the sausage line, which saw an increase in productivity, profitability and quality assurance.
And after identifying that modern mincing plates and grinding equipment were substandard, he spearheaded an innovative partnership with a metal specialist, which has nearly eradicated metal contamination in the production lines.
Judges were impressed with his passion, continuous improvement and his consistent and coherent approach to the culture of the business.
There was a wonderful balance of his love for the business and also for the people that he was leading. There was a really good balance between people and process.
The judging panel