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EEF
Maidstone company named nation's top manufacturer
30th January 2012
The company not only won the Innovative Operating Practices Award at the national final of the EEF Future Manufacturing Awards 2011, but it was also named the ‘winner of winners’ - an accolade that puts it right at the top of manufacturing performance.
The annual awards are hosted by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and recognise excellence in enterprise, innovation, environmental performance and skills development among UK manufacturers.
GP Acoustics won the Innovative Operating Practices Award sponsored by JAM Recruitment, for developing and implementing new technology and manufacturing processes to break into a high-end market sector. The judges were impressed with this story of how an innovative process led to an out-of-the-box idea of producing a new loudspeaker made of composite material, which greatly improved acoustic performance. They also agreed that GP Acoustics was an inspiring example of a company empowering the next generation of UK engineers.
Barry Dock, Head of Project/Mechanical Engineering at GP Acoustics said: “We are delighted to win both awards and particularly to receive the accolade of best performing manufacturer in the UK. Following our success, we are committed to the further application of advanced materials and techniques - a key differentiator in the high-end loudspeaker market.”
Jim Davison, South East Region Director for EEF, added: “Congratulations to GP Acoustics on winning both awards. It’s a real feather in the cap of the South East manufacturing sector and it clearly illustrates the value of supporting a sector made up of 45,000 businesses contributing £45billion to the UK economy. “
John Morris, Chief Executive of JAM Recruitment, also commented: “These awards are testimony to just how much talent and tenacity there is in the UK’s manufacturing sector and help to showcase the many reasons why UK manufacturing is famous the world over. The market is tough, but our manufacturers are maintaining their competitive edge, and the sector is widely recognised as our nation’s great economic hope for the coming years – something that is certainly worth celebrating.”
Leading business software and services provider Infor, sponsored the Winner of Winners Award and passed on their congratulations to GP Acoustics. “At the cutting edge of UK manufacturers there is a great deal of innovation happening that is driven by investments in technology, people and processes. Infor has been supporting this agenda of pioneers for quite some time and as a demonstration of our commitment to innovation excellence, we are proud to sponsor this award and applaud GP Acoustics for its continued research, development and deserved commercial success,” said Phil Burgess, regional vice president, sales for manufacturing, Infor. “There is however, a great deal more to be done and we will continue to support those manufacturers looking for faster, more agile ways of doing business in an increasingly competitive global market.”
GP Acoustics reached the national final, held at a glittering Gala Dinner at Plaisterers’ Hall , Old London Wall, by winning its category in the EEF South East regional competition.
Photo caption: Barry Dock, Head of Project Engineering, Katy Smith, Marketing Assistant and Phil Burgess, Regional Vice President of award sponsor INFOR.
Media enquiries to:
Colin Bridgman, Harvest PR
Tel: 023 9244 9655/07798 735648/ colin.bridgman@harvestpr.co.uk
About EEF
EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, is the representative voice of manufacturing in the UK together with UK Steel. EEF has a growing membership of over 6,000 companies of all sizes, employing some 900,000 people from every sector of engineering, manufacturing, engineering construction and technology-based industries.
