AVK in the UK Expect Awards 2019

The success of AVK in the UK is built on the collective effort of over 400 employees. The annual AVK Expect Awards acknowledge the contribution of each employee and recognise those individuals whose commitment, dedication and performance in their respective roles has been outstanding.

AVK Expect Award recipients in 2019 can feel especially proud of their achievements because, for the first time, nominations were submitted by their colleagues as well as their managers. To know your peers, value your effort, expertise and overall contribution is particularly satisfying.

Expect Award winners were announced at a celebratory luncheon at the Proact Stadium in late December. Lee Foxall (Head of HR and Organisational Performance) compéred the awards and Paul Hubbard (Regional Chairman) delivered the keynote address.

The winners of AVK Expect Awards in 2019 are:

Innovation

Andrew Merson (Fusion Plast, Australia)

One of the core AVK Expect Promises is ‘Expect solutions, not only products’. Andrew has married his in-depth industry knowledge and positive attitude with an open mind and creative thinking to deliver new solutions to client challenges.

Jane Li Fang (GH Fusion, China)

In 2019, Jane has used innovative techniques to significantly increase output from automated production lines. Jane’s success shows that innovation is applicable to processes as well as products.

Customer service

Gina Pennington (AVK UK)

Wolseley is a key account for AVK UK. Gina has built strong relationships across Wolseley’s internal team and these have proved invaluable in both retaining and growing the account. People may buy from people, but customers stay with you when they recognise they are receiving exceptional customer service.

Lorna Phillips (Fusion)

Lorna has long been a very effective Payroll and Benefits Manager at Fusion and has been nominated for awards in previous years. In 2019, Lorna stepped up to the plate and provided holiday cover for the Invicta payroll despite never having used the software before and not being familiar with the Invicta team.

Rebecca Worrall (Fusion)

Success is often a two-edged sword and Fusion’s sales growth in 2019 led to capacity issues whilst investment in new automation was commissioned. Rebecca worked tirelessly on behalf of customers and her dedication was recognised by both customers and colleagues alike. Rebecca’s nomination referenced no less than four AVK Expect Promises: Quality in every step; Prompt response; Long term partnerships; To be effective and easy.

Customer response

Adam McGuigan (Fusion)

Adam is a serial nominee having received four nominations across three different categories in 2017 and 2018. His award in 2019 recognises, in particular, the immense contribution he has made to the development of Fusion’s manufacturing strategy.

Sandra Reid (AVK UK)

It is a mark of the esteem in which you are held by customers when they regularly ask for you by name. Internal and external customers alike value the quality, speed and positivity of Sandra’s responses to both technical and commercial questions.

Ash Cliffen (Fusion)

Ash is relatively new to the Fusion sales team, but he has established strong relationships with customers and colleagues alike. Others already naturally look to him for help and support , and he has embraced the challenge of new initiatives such as lean techniques and system pricing without letting it impact on customer service.

Expect more of yourself

Neil Allman (Fusion ACE Plastics, Egypt)

Anyone who has visited Cairo will recognise its chaotic mix of energy and diversity all delivered at high volume make it a challenging place to work. Despite this, Neil has introduced new systems and procedures, and led the team to implement new investment and achieve significant domestic growth.

Susan Thomson (AVK Aqua Gas)

In 2019 AVK Aqua Gas achieved growth that exceeded expectations and this provided a series of welcome but demanding challenges which Susan, in her role as Financial Controller, managed extremely effectively. In particular, Susan was always open to looking for new and alternative solutions.

Janet Turner (AVK Donkin)

A cornerstone of the HR team, Janet has AVK blood running through her veins: ‘I have seldom come across an employee of any business who demonstrates the passion to perform all day and every day to the benefit of others.’

Nicola Kirk (AVK UK)

Nicola is the embodiment of the values and behaviours promoted by AVK. Proactive in helping and supporting her colleagues, Nicola is a true team player. Full of enthusiasm, Nicola invariably delivers a high level of quality and drives projects to completion.

Best site

The best site award is in recognition of achievements throughout the year against set targets, outlined in each operating company business plan. Measures include; Health & Safety, customer complaints, service reliability and availability, labour cost, inventory, overhead costs, absenteeism, investment deliverables within cost and on time. This set criteria is weighted against a robust scoring system.

Following this year’s scoring review system, the winners have excelled over the majority of disciplines during 2019. With an impressive -5% reduction across operating costs, and the achievement of their investment deliverables, all of which were delivered on time and against target.

The best site award for 2019 goes to, G H Fusion.

People at the heart of our success 

As a business we know that our employees are a key factor to our ongoing success, as well as, an essential contributor to the solutions we deliver to our customers. We are extremely grateful to everyone throughout the company for their continued dedication, effort and hard work.

Congratulations to all our Expect Awards winners and nominees.

Here’s to a happy, healthy and successful 2020 for all employees.

Remember, AVK Expects…