Presented during the evening of its Annual Members’ Conference, the Builders Merchants Federation Young Achiever Awards recognise the rising stars of the industry who are making a major contribution to their company’s success. This year, the new BMF Marketing Excellence Award also shone a spotlight on those whose marketing ideas have significantly enhanced their business.
Young Merchant Achiever 2023 (sponsored by Mannok)
Lauren Penney, Operations & Marketing Manager, Chandler Materials Supplies
Chandler’s Finance Director, Ben Chandler said: “Lauren’s growth in the company has been phenomenal. Joining as a shy teenager, she has developed into a confident leading figure in the company that the rest of the staff look to for help and advice daily.”
Lauren helped set up the company’s first e-commerce website on a budget of £6,000. Three years later she led the project upgrade the system, which now takes annual sales of £250,000. Moving to a marketing role, Lauren developed the company’s first marketing strategy, bringing accountability to the function and helping the entire business understand the purpose, objectives and outcomes of all marketing activity.
Runner Up (sponsored by E Tupling)
Cameron Smith, Group Transport & Operations Manager, Mathewson & Rosemond
Cam demonstrated strong leadership as the family business transitioned from generation two to generation three. Starting as a warehouse operative a decade ago, Cam displayed a natural aptitude for operational management and logistics.
Subsequently becoming Warehouse Manager before adding transport management and logistic duties to his role, his innovative thinking has helped immensely in the firm’s progression to becoming a much larger commercial orientated merchant with a national supply network.
Bronze Award (sponsored by The Encon Group)
Nathan Arthur, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, Independent Builders Merchants Group
Trained as a Chartered Accountant, Nathan joined IBMG in 2021 as Mergers & Acquisitions Accountant and swiftly rose to a senior role. He spearheaded a team completing 16 acquisitions and played a pivotal role in orchestrating the opening of 17 new branches, contributing to the company’s expansion and market presence.
Also shortlisted: Zoe Harvey, Bradfords; Charlie Smith NMBS; Joe Smith, Haldane Group
Young Supplier Achiever 2023 (sponsored by Epicor)
Ben Farrington, Division Sales Director – Construction, Bostik
Ben joined Bostik in 2017 and won the company’s annual Area Sales Manager Award the following year. As Key Account Manager, he grew a major account from £750K to £3m in two years and won £800k of new business in 2021.
In his current role, he led the restructure of the commercial team, and a distribution project that significantly reduced haulage costs. Receiving testimonials from colleagues and customers, Ben was named a BMF Top 100 Supplier Influencer earlier this year.
Also shortlisted: Anneka Helgesen, Aco Technologies; Ryan Lockwood, Fernco; Laura Perrett, Wrekin.
Marketing Excellence Award 2023 (sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Marketors)
Rebecca Range, Head of Marketing, Terratruck Group
Head-hunted in 2022 to develop a brand identity for Terratruck Group, a company with no marketing function, formed in 2021 and growing through acquisition, Rebecca focused on three core areas — clear brand marketing, differentiated customer marketing and excellence through merchandising.
CEO Stephen Brogan said: “Rebecca is passionate, innovative, works at pace and is a master influencer through the business. She really has gone above and beyond to drive positive change.”
Also shortlisted: Claire Briars, E Tupling; Elaine Gilligan, Kilwaughter Minerals; George Wright, Ox Tools
