At its 8th Annual Conference Graham Plumbers’ Merchant recognised and celebrated the exceptional work carried out by both staff and suppliers.
Hosted at the Birmingham Metropole Hotel from the 3 – 4 December, the awards recognised those who went above and beyond what was expected from them and who made a real difference to the operations of Graham.
Nine members of staff were presented with Graham Hero awards that are aligned to the five Saint-Gobain attitudes, while three Graham employees were presented with the Regional and Managing Director’s awards.
The award winners were:
Act as Entrepreneur: Chris Quinn, Bury Branch Manager
Be Agile: Katie Jones, Bromford Lane Branch Warehouse Assistant
Cultivating Customer Intimacy – Contract Sales: Mark Kelly, Regional Sales Manager
Cultivating Customer Intimacy – Local Sales: Luke Holmwood, Horsham Branch Assistant
Innovate: Andrew Clarke, Senior Category Manager – Heating and Amy Frearson, Category Assistant – Heating
Open and Engaging Culture (Collaboration): Neal Hampson, Category Manager and John Chicken, Regional Sales Manager
Open and Engaging Culture (Community): Samantha Canfield, Marketing Manager
Northern Regional Award: Fiona Hull, Nottingham Branch Manager
Southern Regional Award: Paul Boyles, Newbury Branch Manager
Managing Director’s Award: Mike Ormiston, Galashiels Branch Manager
In addition to the staff awards, Graham’s suppliers were also recognised for exceptional work with two new award categories, Supplier of the Year and Supplier Personality of the Year. Voted for by all of Graham’s staff, Ideal Standard was presented with the Supplier of the Year award.
Alex Hooley, National Account Controller at Ideal Standard, commented: “This award is a testament to the work we have been doing with Graham to plan and execute a number of initiatives over the past year. Our joint strategy for 2018 included a new core range with incentives, and a commitment to providing timely quotes and deliveries, among other things.
“It means a lot to receive this award, which was voted for by the staff across Graham’s departments, and to see the fruits of our partnership working in terms of sales.”
Carol Wilson, Key Account Manager at Wirquin, was presented with the Supplier Personality of the Year due to her unbeatable enthusiasm and dedication to providing Graham with an exceptional working partnership.
She said: “I was gobsmacked and secretly chuffed to win. I love working closely with people and to get recognition directly from the Graham team is really humbling.
“The Graham conference plays an important role in the supplier relationship because we get to meet in a less formal environment than usual but to get this award as an added bonus is literally the icing on the cake.”
