G10 Winners Crowned At Wembley Stadium

The spotlight was firmly on this year’s G10 Award winners at Wembley Stadium on 2 December in a glittering ceremony that publicly recognised the best performing glass and glazing companies across a variety of categories. Despite the bad weather that affected most of the country, the event was almost full to capacity as the industry waited to find out who would take the coveted trophies this year. The G10 Award Winners are:

Health & Safety Initiative Of The Year: Pilkington
Component Supplier Of The Year: Solaglas
Public Sector Project Of The Year: Nationwide Windows
Promotional Campaign Of The Year – Retail: ERW Joinery
Promotional Campaign Of The Year – Trade: Edgetech IG
Apprentice Of The Year: Joint winners: Arron Clegg, GGFi and Scott Burrows, NSG Pilkington
Customer Care Initiative Of The Year: Bohle
Energy Efficiency Initiative Of The Year: Bowater Building Products
Conservatory Design & Build Award: Conservatory Outlet
Installer Of The Year: Everglade Windows
Glass Company Of The Year: AGC Flat Glass
Fabricator Of The Year: Lister Trade Frames

Tony Higgin, organiser of the G10 Awards, said, “I want to offer my own congratulations to all the G10 Award Winners and Finalists, who once again submitted outstanding entries making it extremely difficult for the judges to make their final decisions. The G-Awards could not happen without the commitment of the industry from entrants, sponsors and guests, so my thanks go to the industry for its continued support. The main event sponsors, FENSA, the GGF, Pilkington, Spectus Window Systems, Stuga Machinery and Synseal deserve a particular mention.”

Among the winners this year were a number of companies who submitted entries in the new categories that were introduced in 2010. In recognition of the importance of marketing in a recession, for example, two promotional categories were included which attracted some exceptional entries. Lawrence Wall, managing director of ERW Joinery, who won the Promotional Campaign Of The Year Award for Retail: “It is easy in difficult times to sacrifice the marketing budget to save money, but in our view this is the most important time to be investing in marketing, whilst at the same time ensuring that we achieve the best value for every pound invested. Our company is enjoying the rewards from the campaign in increased revenue, and we are extremely grateful to the G10 judges for recognising our efforts.”

Matt Kirby, glass marketing manager for Solaglas, is no stranger to the G-Awards stage and was a winner again this year. He said, “We're absolutely thrilled to be named 'Component Supplier of the Year' for EcoClear+.   It really endorses EcoClear+'s position as the best sealed unit for the domestic window market, but also Solaglas' credentials as the stand-out supplier.  To be recognised by the judges for the second year running at the G-Awards is a great achievement for the Solaglas team as the event is the only one that recognises the achievements of our industry.” In what has been another difficult year for the industry, the G-Awards offer an uplifting look at the real innovation and creativity that businesses are developing, a fact that can be seen in Edgetech’s award for the Trade Promotion Of The Year category for their ‘Journey to C’ campaign which was designed to raise awareness of the changes to the Building Regulations before they were enforced and to show companies how early compliance can be used for commercial gain. Managing director, Andy Jones, commented, “The promotion included its own dedicated media campaign as well as a more direct approach to ensure we got bums on seats at all of our nationwide seminars. We believe the campaign was a success with over 600 delegates attending the workshops, but to receive this important 3rd party accolade as well, is really the icing on the cake.”

To underline the value of being a finalist or a winner at the G-Awards, Mark Warren, managing director of Lister Trade Frames, winner of the Fabricator Of The Year Award, observed that the G-Awards “remain the highlight of the year for our industry. Without these events there would be no independent recognition of the industry leaders except through their own self promotion. The atmosphere was tremendous and the anticipation raised for all the finalists as the winners were read out was electric. We never ever assume that we will be the winner; just being a finalist is great recognition. So when our name was read out as winner of the Fabricator of the Year Award we were delighted!” The point was emphasised by Dave Broxton, managing director of Bohle Ltd who won the Customer Care Initiative Of The Year Award who called their win “the icing on the cake of a successful year. This is a tremendous validation of the way we do business. It underlines that we are a company that offers much, much more than simply selling a product and reflects the feedback we routinely receive from our customers.”

Further comment about how important the G-Awards are to the winners came from Mark Rodgers, UK Sales Manager from AGC Flat Glass who said the event was “fabulous” with the “absolute highlight for AGC being industry recognition as Glass Company of the Year. It’s the perfect boost to both the UK and Brussels teams at the end of a challenging year, and a great marketing tool for us and our customers as we enter 2011.”

Matthew Glover, managing director of Conservatory Outlet, said he was “delighted” to win the Conservatory Design & Build Awards: “Like all the winners and shortlisted companies, we have worked tirelessly to ensure that we are at the top of our game. To be recognised at the industry's biggest event of the year is something that I am very proud of, and my thanks and gratitude extend to all those in the company who make Conservatory Outlet what it is.” Daryl Cashmore, operations director of Nationwide Windows declared himself to be “extremely shocked to win being up against such a high calibre of opposition in the Public Sector Project category.” Vinod Gopal from Everglade Windows agrees that “it is an honour to come out on top at the G10 Awards. We have a fantastic team at Everglade that is constantly striving to achieve excellence. It's wonderful to have our achievements recognised by the industry and the trophy will take pride of place at our Perivale headquarters.”
The final word goes to Tony Higgin who said, “The industry might have only just recovered from last Thursday’s G10 Awards, but I’m already very much looking forward to the next one. Each year I think we cannot surpass the standards that we have seen, and every year the judges and I are amazed at the amazing work that goes on in this industry. Bring on 2011!”