Engine and component manufacturer, Cosworth, has been named The Manufacturer of the Year 2011. The high-performance engineering firm took the honour ahead of strong competition by other category winners such as runner-up, tractor manufacturer New Holland Agriculture, part of the CNH Group, who this year won the World Class Manufacturing award and the Manufacturing in Action award.
Close to 50 companies attended the gala awards ceremony held at the Lancashire County Cricket Club, Manchester. Speeches were made by United Nations hero during the Bosnian conflict, Col Bob Stewart, and CEO and driving force of the Bloodhound SSC world land speed record project, Richard Noble OBE. Noble gave a whirlwind, 15 minute presentation on how they got this iconic engineering project into production, one of the highlights of the night.
CEO of Cosworth, Tim Routsis, said he was absolutely delighted to win the award.
Rik Temmink, chief marketing officer at Cosworth Group said: “The awards recognise our successful transition from a motorsports company to a diversified business with a high value-added manufacturing capability that can compete with the best.”
“By combining Cosworth’s world-renowned intellectual property in high-performance engines and electronics with our rapid end-to-end engineering and manufacturing approach, we are able to punch above our weight, even in large markets such as Aerospace, Automotive and Defence – both in the UK and in export markets including the US, Russia and India,” he added.
The awards have been featured on the BBC news website. Cosworth’s success at the awards documented here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-15947426
The awards were this year chaired by Sayone Media CEO and publisher of The Manufacturer magazine, Nick Hussey, who was joined on stage by keynote speaker Col Bob Stewart and Bloodhound SSC project director, Richard Noble.
The event was a sell-out with over 600 people, mostly manufacturers, attending the dinner. Both big and small names were rewarded with winners from a wide variety of industries including food and drink, plastics, precision engineering, electrical and heavy machinery. The evening was an unqualified success, and followed The Manufacturer Director’s Conference 2011, which entertained 150 delegates on thought leadership topics from UK and US business and education experts.
Two categories that judges said were particularly difficult to separate were the Leadership and Strategy award and the Innovation and Design award. The former was won by JJ Churchill Engineering with Accolade Wines received a highly commended and the Innovation and Design award which this year was awarded to G’s Fresh Beetroot, who edged out Ricardo, manufacturer of the engine for the McLaren MP4-12C super sportscar.
While many companies were disappointed not to have won an award, many people remarked that they thoroughly enjoyed the judging and awards experience, which had sharpened their resolve to return next year and win.
The other winners were:
Innovation and Design Award, sponsored by IP Research – G’s Fresh Beetroot
Sustainable Manufacturing Award, sponsored by Siemens – Muntons
Leadership & Strategy Award, sponsored by Zurich – JJ Churchill Engineering
People & Skills Award, sponsored by Kronos – Hi-Technology Group
Young Manufacturer of the Year Award, sponsored by Epicor – Joe Miller, Drallim Industries
World Class Manufacturing Award, sponsored by Newton – New Holland Agriculture
IT in Manufacturing Award – Fairfax Meadow
Operations and Maintenance Award – PZ Cussons (UK)
Supply Chain Excellence Award – Cinch Connectors
Manufacturing in Action Award – New Holland Agriculture
The Manufacturer of the Year Award, sponsored by RBS – Runner Up 2nd place – New Holland Agriculture
The Manufacturer of the Year Award, sponsored by RBS – Runner Up 3rd place – Muntons
