Over 130 people congregated at the East Midlands Conference Centre in February for Lockhart Catering Equipment’s first 2-day supplier conference of 2024. And as Managing Director Mark Lombard encouraged everyone to embrace change and adopt a ‘never normal’ approach to business, the conference kicked off with 30 minute ‘speed-dating’ style segments for each of Lockhart’s 26 key supplier partners.
Simon Britten, Head of Marketing at Lockhart Catering Equipment explains why these supplier conferences are so important.
“We have over 32,000 products, from more than 400 branded suppliers, so it’s an immense amount of information for everyone to keep track of. These conferences give our key suppliers a chance to present their product benefits and new ranges to our team and to forge strong working relationships. For us, this collaboration is essential to ensure everyone is in the best position to provide relevant solutions to our end customers. Training and investment in our people and supporting our supplier partners are a crucial part of the Lockhart way of doing business.”
High on the agenda for the conference, the sustainability of not just Lockhart Catering Equipment as a business but also how suppliers manage their sustainability journey and how it integrates with Lockhart’s. The discussions during the first day of the conference paved the way for the Lockhart Awards in the evening, with the following winners being announced:
- Sustainable Future Heavy Equipment Supplier of the Year 2023/24
Winner: Rational
Building sustainability into everything they do has been at the core of Rational since 1973. Certified Lean and Green, Rational sets the standard for driving down energy use across its product range.
- Sustainable Future Light Equipment Supplier of the Year 2023/24
Winner: Nevilles
With the challenges of a multi-category and multi-factory supply chain, the team at Nevilles has developed a clear, people-led strategy, to tackle all elements of the journey to a sustainable future.
- Light Equipment Supplier of the Year 2023/24
Winner: Churchill
With a total customer service approach in every aspect, Churchill makes everything as easy as possible to ensure we can deliver for our customers. The outstanding product availability levels synonymous with Churchill make them impossible to ignore when we look to award supplier of the year.
- Heavy Equipment Supplier of the Year 2023/24
Winner: Falcon
As well as delivering growth within a super challenging year, Falcon has supported business innovation in its commercial offer and has an outstandingly positive attitude to support our sales team.
To learn more about Lockhart Catering Equipment please visit www.lockhart.co.uk
