Woodforde’s takes top prize at SIBA Business Awards
Neil Bain of Woodforde’s receives his Overall SIBA Business Award from Shadow Small Business Minister Toby Perkins
Woodforde’s Norfolk Ales beat fierce competition to take the top prize at the SIBA Business Awards 2013, announced today at the organisation’s first-ever BeerX event in Sheffield.
Judges praised Woodforde’s Ale Trail for its involvement of both pub customers and drinkers. They were impressed by a “well put-together initiative”, and by the careful measurement and evaluation carried out by the brewery. Woodforde’s won the Best Customer Support category on its way to taking the top award.
A further 13 brewers were recognised at the event, with a special mention for Oxfordshire brewery Loddon, who triumphed in the Design Award with pump clips and pack labels that carried a design theme and “stood out from the crowd”. Awards were presented for achievements in business areas including marketing and business development, as well as for design.
SIBA chairman Keith Bott said, “Woodforde’s Ale Trail is an excellent example of a genuinely holistic initiative and they are worthy winners of this year’s Overall Business Award.”
He added, “In the eight years of the Business Awards, we’ve seen a real change in the quality of entries. As competition in the local beer market has intensified, so have local brewers been forced to raise their game as businesspeople.
““Brewing a quality craft beer isn’t in itself a route to commercial success – brewers need to market their beers, design professional pump clips and labels, support their customers and engage with their local communities. Many of these skills are ones that SIBA brewers have had to learn after founding their brewery and it is a credit to their ability to adapt that the Awards submissions are of such a high standard.
“With talented and dedicated individuals like these at the forefront of local brewing, we should be optimistic about the prospects for the sector, which is continuing to show growth well ahead of the total UK beer market.”
Receiving his trophy, Neil Bain of Woodforde’s said, “It’s fantastic to win this award. Being out in Norfolk, we can sometimes be a little cut off, so this will really help to raise Woodforde’s profile. It’s also great to win recognition for our Ale Trail, which will this year include 500 pubs stocking our ales throughout Norfolk and into London.”
