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Palletline Members take the stage in 30th Annivesary Celebrations


Palletline staff and members took to the stage at the company’s awards ceremony last Saturday, for the first time in three years.

The event, sponsored by transport management software specialists Mandata, was held at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham and marked Palletline’s 30th anniversary. The drinks reception was sponsored by Allports Truck and Trailer Centre in Lichfield.

Over 500 guests attended and enjoyed a sumptuous four course dinner in a magical woodland setting.  Entertainment included comedian Ed Byrne, a regular fixture on BBC radio and shows like Mock of the Week and Have I Got News for You.

A total of seven awards were presented with a trophy and bottle of champagne on the night.

Simmonds Transport received the Health and Safety Award.  Sponsored by Higgs LLP, Simmonds was selected for its outstanding health and safety record and its FORS Gold approach to operations.  The Telford based company operates a great health and safety culture throughout the business and constantly strives to achieve the highest standards.

Sponsored by Champion CCTV, the Outstanding Commitment (Member) award went to Haydock based Law Distribution in recognition of their commitment and dedication and consistently going above and beyond within both their depot and support of the Palletline network as a whole.

The individual Outstanding Commitment award went to Chris Edmonds, Operations Manager of Poole based Curvin Transport in recognition of his strong communication skills and ability to manage an additional postcode area whilst maintaining excellent service throughout.

West Sussex based Axtra beat off fierce competition from Reasons Transport and Caistor Distribution to win the Service Award sponsored by underwriters BUA for providing outstanding service levels with the highest performance results within the network based on KP statistics from January to December 2021.

Voted for by the members were Member of the Year and Palletline Person of the Year.

Dublin based JMC Van Trans was named Member of the Year for showing support to the membership in general partnership as well as providing respectful and honest communication and demonstrating accountability for service and quality.  Sponsored by Business Training specialists Yelovest, Caistor Distribution and Alan R Jones and Sons were also in the running as finalists for this category. 

Palletline Person of the Year was awarded to Operations Administrator Annette O’Connor who is based at the hub.   One of Palletline’s longest serving employees (check), Annette has been with the business for over 20 years, wears multiple hats and consistently goes above and beyond to get the job done.

Finally in recognition of his exceptional contribution, particularly during the pandemic, the Special Award was presented to Palletline’s Health & Safety Manager Ken Bell.

Now celebrating 15 years at Palletline Ken made it his business from day one to familiarise himself with the day-to-day roles and responsibilities of every employee, giving him a deeper insight into hazards and risks in every area of the company operation.

Such diligence was a large contributory factor to Palletline’s enviable RIDDOR record (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) with well over 1,000 incident-free days on Ken’s watch – including 300 this year alone the company has also achieved ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and 50001 accreditations with no non-conformances. 

These exceptional results led to him being named SHE’s Health & Safety Manager of the year in 2021 and once again steered Palletline to receiving Commended in this year’s RoSPA Awards.

Palletline also announced that it would be adopting the legacy charity United by 2022 which will be building a community fund to continue the best projects started by the games creating opportunities for young people like the creation of accessible playgrounds or teaching children to swim. 

To kick off the partnership over £2000 was raised for the charity on the night.

Graham Leitch Palletline’s Group Managing Director said: “Congratulations to each of our award winners.

“Our members and people are at the heart of the Palletline network.  Their ongoing commitment to deliver consistently high standards together with their customer centric focus ensures Palletline continues to maintain its market leading position and reputation for delivering service excellence.

“It was a fantastic evening and particularly fitting that in our 30th year we were delighted to be able to once again recognise staff and members for outstanding service following what has been one of the most difficult periods in Palletline’s history.”

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