 Douglas Gillespie with Paul Nichols, FLTA president |
A Hollywood theme set the stage for the announcement of the winners of the coveted Archies at the 2009 Fork Lift Truck Association Awards for Excellence ceremony on Valentine's Day.
The climax of the evening was the announcement of FLTA's Lifetime Achievement Award. Scottish forklift dealer Douglas Gillespie became the ninth recipient of the FLTA's highest honour.
Paul Nichol, FLTA president who presented the award, revealed that Gillespie's nomination had attracted an "unprecedented raft of supporting letters". A longstanding Douglas Gillespie Plant (DGP) customer summed up the company founder as "the embodiment of the forklift industry in Scotland".
Douglas Gillespie, founder and managing director of DGP, says the award was a wonderful surprise. "It is a credit to the success of our team."
"The Lifetime Achievement Award is testament to Douglas's character, integrity and hard work over the company's 40 year history, as well as the inspiration he gives and value he places in his team." says the DGP team.
Yale Europe Materials Handling won the Environment prize for its unusual MP16S low-noise pallet truck, while Hubtex UK collected the Archie for Ergonomics with its detachable picking platform. STILL Materials Handling's FM-X laser-guided reach truck won the Safety vote, while Combilift picked up the Innovation award for its Combi-CB four-way counterbalance vehicle.
Martin McVicar, Combilift's managing director, says research and development has always been a major part of Combilift's business strategy. "We are constantly striving to come up with products that make handling and storage more productive, safer and cost effective for customers.
"The fact that we won this category on a public vote shows that the qualities of this innovative product are widely recognised and we would like to thank everyone who voted for us." This is the fifth major award that Combilift has won since the company was established.
Richard Baxter of Crown took an Archie for his Services to the FLTA, while Brendon Sparks received the Services to the Fork Lift Industry award for his work at Nissan, BITA and CFTS.
David Ellison, FLTA chief executive, says the 2009 awards were a resounding success. "The many great achievements we have spotlighted show how innovative and vibrant the materials handling sector can be."
Full list of winners
Apprentice of the Year Award
Sponsored by Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks UK
Winner: David Cooke of C & D Fork Trucks Ltd
Runner-up: Adam Turner of United Forktrucks (1992) Ltd
Employee of the Year Award
Sponsored by the Fork Lift Truck Association
Winner: Sue Smith of Genesis Forklift Trucks Ltd
Services to the FLTA Award
Sponsored by the Fork Lift Truck Association
Winner: Richard Baxter of Crown Lift Trucks Ltd
Services to the Fork Lift Truck Industry
Sponsored by Samuk Lift Trucks Ltd
Winner: Brendon Sparks
Safe Site Award
Sponsored by Narrow Aisle Flexi
Winner: City of London Corporation
Supplier of the Year Award
Sponsored by Doosan Infracore UK Ltd
Winner: B & B Attachments Ltd.
Environment Award
Sponsored by GE Capital Solutions - Equipment Financing
Winner: Yale Europe Materials Handling
Ergonomics Award
Sponsored by Exide Technologies Ltd
Winner: Hubtex UK
Safety Award
Sponsored by the Fork Lift Truck Association
Winner: STILL Materials Handling Ltd
Innovation Award
Sponsored by Albury Asset Rentals Ltd
Winner: Combilift Ltd
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sponsored by the Fork Lift Truck Association
Winner: Douglas Gillespie of Douglas Gillespie Plant