Congratulations to this year’s winners who all epitomise the talent, creativity and professionalism of our wider industry. The standard of entries this year was truly exceptional, and the judges had no easy task separating them.
All of the 2019 BWF Award winners are detailed below.
The Woodworking Project of the Year Award, kindly sponsored by Centor®, was awarded to Gowercroft Joinery for the design manufacture and installation of over 300 timber external and internal joinery items at Templeton House, a Grade II listed property in Roehampton. The timber joinery was part of a £32m restoration of the Grade II listed mansion which included sympathetic replacement of the original sliding sash windows, to provide modern levels of performance at no detriment to the historic value of the building.
The Product Design in Wood Award, kindly sponsored by Teknos, was awarded to Tom Pearson & Sons for a unique replacement entrance door solution that incorporated the original stained glass. The company designed a vented system that incorporated a clear toughened double-glazed unit. The stained glass was then suspended in front and beaded into place, with a vented bottom bead and further venting to the top bead to prevent moisture build up.
The Apprentice of the Year Award, kindly sponsored by Remmers, was awarded to Bailey Donkin, apprentice at Middlesbrough-based ERW Joinery. Bailey picked up the Award for his creativity, innovative approach and outstanding joinery. According to Bailey’s company: “In the four years that Bailey has been with ERW, we have seen him grow to become not only an outstanding joiner but an integral part of our team. His ideas and innovativeness set him apart from not just other apprentices, but many other time-served joiners.”
The first ever Rising Star Award, kindly sponsored by the Timber Trade Federation, was awarded to Carol Bruce, HR Manager at Allan Brothers. Carol was named as the BWF Rising Star of 2019 for her support of colleagues and guidance across the business which has been pivotal to the company’s recent transformation programme. According to Carol’s company, “Her support of colleagues and guidance across the business has been pivotal to the success of a recent change transformation project.”
The Process Efficiency Award was kindly sponsored this year by W20 Exhibition and the FIT Show. This year’s winner was West Port Timber Windows & Doors for its fire door manufacturing project which focused upon customer value by reducing waste. By reducing waste throughout its fire door manufacturing processes West Port Timber Windows & Doors were able to significantly improve efficiency across several key areas. A faster turn-around time to meet customer demand was key to this project.
The Health & Safety Hero Award, kindly sponsored by CITB, was awarded to GE Door Manufacturing for its health & safety first culture to drive continuous improvement across their factory, with clear measurement of colleague engagement and adoption. GE Door Manufacturing has introduced a number of health and safety initiatives over the years. More recently, to monitor progress, the company introduced an innovative scoring outcome system and a near miss reporting system. The company also revisited all personal and machine-related risk assessments to ensure they still met the needs of users.
A massive thank-you to our sponsors this year, without whom we wouldn’t be able to celebrate the best and brightest in the industry.
Also, thank-you to Gaudio Awards for creating the beautiful 2019 BWF Awards.
The BWF Awards 2020 will be launched next June at the BWF Members’ Day. We look forward to receiving a record number of Award entries next year as our industry is one to be truly proud of!
