The British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation hosted its second BiKBBI Awards ceremony at the prestigious QEII Centre in London’s Westminster on Tuesday 7 February, with a gala dinner attended by close to 300 guests representing businesses from across the wider KBB industry, sponsored by Fix Radio and Quooker.
The evening was a huge success, with some of the KBB industry’s most prominent brands and businesses in attendance, alongside shortlisted finalists from the KBB installation sector. Guests were entertained by celebrity Paul Sinha, who was the event host and compere for the Awards ceremony. The multi-talented comedian, broadcaster and trained GP, who is best known for being one of the UK’s finest quizzers on ITV’s The Chase, accompanied BiKBBI CEO Damian Walters and Fix Radio’s Greg Wilson on stage to present each of the winners with their award.
Damian Walters commented ‘We were thrilled with the success of our first awards programme last year and it would have been very easy to use that as the measuring stick for future events but, as an organisation that continually strives for improvement, we wanted to make the 2023 campaign better, and it’s fair to say that that was accomplished across the board. We had more entries from more businesses, but more importantly for us, the quality of each and every entry was of such a high standard.
It’s great to be able to track, recognise and reward the amazing talent working within our sector, and see the quality of work the KBB installation community is delivering day after day.’
The BiKBBI Awards programme, which launched in 2021, received 130 entries from 102 businesses and individuals across eleven categories for the 2023 campaign, with a further two awards presented on the night for Outstanding Achievement and Special Recognition. The BiKBBI Awards 2023 winners were announced as:
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Showerwall
Won by Jason McCann, Christian Andrews Interiors
COMMUNITY CHAMPION OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Protect My Install
Won by Band of Builders
CUSTOMER SERVICE CHAMPION OF THE YEAR Sponsored by AO
Won by Liberty Fitting Service Limited
INDEPENDENT RETAILER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Malmo
Won by Brentwood Kitchens and Interiors
INSTALLATION BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Häfele
Won by Terlecki Limited
INSTALLER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Roca
Won by Chris Richards, Plumbing Hot
NATIONAL RETAILER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Anthill
Won by Wren Kitchens
YOUNG INSTALLER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Quooker
Won by Elliott Perry, Ace Electrical & Plumbing Limited
ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMPION OF THE YEAR Sponsored by The Installer Magazine
Won by Used Kitchen Exchange (UKE)
INDUSTRY NEWCOMER 2023 Sponsored by Marsh Commercial
Won by Wayne Lenz, Terlecki Limited
The judges made a decision to award two awards in the Installation Manager of the Year category, owing to fact that they could not separate the scores for two of the nominees given the very high standard of both entries:
INSTALLATION MANAGER OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Huws Gray Buildbase
Warwick Hockley, Alexander Kitchens and Maria Thomas, AT Installation Services Limited
There were two further awards on the evening, the first of which was an Outstanding Achievement award, presented to Wickes for their longstanding work on apprenticeships within the KBB sector, paving the way for other KBB businesses to adopt an early careers strategy.
The second award was presented to former Installer Magazine Editor and publisher, Rob Nicholls. Damian Walters gave a very personal and heartfelt tribute to Rob, who has been in the KBB sector for over 40 years, working with the likes of kbbreview, BK&T and the industry trade show KBB.
He commented ‘These were two accolades I particularly enjoyed awarding. Wickes have really led the way for national retailers in their established installer Apprenticeship programme which should be both rewarded and commended. The second award was awarded to the industry much loved Rob Nicholls for a lifetime of commitment to this industry and for his unconditional support of The British Institute of KBB Installation’.
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