performance awards
‘Immensely proud of staff’ In London’s West End, Bestway Group paid tribute to its best-performing branches and suppliers. Addressing around 500 guests at the Bestway Performance Awards in central London, group chief executive Zameer Choudrey described the past year as a successful one, with total turnover of £2.52bn and profit up 6.6% to £184.6m. These figures include the group’s cement and banking interests. However, as reported recently (Cash & Carry Management last month), there was a near 7% drop in pre-tax profit for the C&C/wholesale business – to £54.3m – on sales barely changed at £2.34bn. “This was largely due to reduced margins to support our customers against the supermarkets,” Choudrey pointed out. On the plus side, the growing delivered foodservice operation secured contracts in Scotland and the north-east of England, while the Bestway Xtra Local chain had a turnover of £500m, with £10,000 per week sales being the qualifying figure for new applicants. Top manager David Howe with group chief executive Zameer Choudrey.
All the winners “The group has also achieved bronze status in Investors in People,” Choudrey added. “This, together with our performance awards, makes me immensely proud of our staff. “The awards allow us the opportunity to showcase to suppliers the talent that will be driving our business in the years ahead.”
Among the performance award winners were David Howe of Bellevue, Edinburgh, part of Batleys, who collected the overall top manager’s prize, while Bestway Manchester (general manager Sajid Mahmood) was judged best branch. Other winners: Group head office employee: Haleem Sadiq, central buying office. Group head office department: training, presented to David Smith, training & development manager. White Pearl branch: Bestway Abbey Road, presented to general manager Mohammad Gulistan. Best-in branch: Bestway Southall, presented to general manager David Baker. Catering branch: Batleys Cardiff, presented to general manager Marc Rees. Export depot: Bestway Barking, presented to general manager Muhammad Asad and deputy manager Asim Hussain. Catering special achiever: Steve Irons, senior contracts manager, Bestway Batleys Foodservices. Bestway branch manager: Naveed Anwar, Team Valley. Batleys branch manager: Dave Bolam, Cleveland. Bestway branch: Nuneaton, presented to general manager Saqib Naveed. Batleys branch: Southampton, presented to general manager Anton James. Most innovative supplier: JTI, presented to Mark Neale and Rupert Hinde. Overall supplier: Barr Soft Drinks, presented to Vinnie Liddar and Guy Gissing.
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Choudrey and Bestway Manchester manager Sajid Mahmood.
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• Cash & Carry Management • March 2014
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