VEKA ‘over the moon’ at Top Award
Burnley-based window and doors manufacturer the VEKA Group scooped the Lancashire Telegraph Environment award reports the Lancashire Telegraph.
The award caps a phenomenal twelve months for Burnley-based VEKA Plc – a year which it celebrated both its 25th year of operations in Burnley and secured an eight-figure acquisition of Midlands rival Bowater Building Products to become the largest manufacturer of window profiles in the UK.
Managing director Dave Jones had to ask the sponsor Neil Colman, of United Utilities, to speak to a colleague over the phone as they didn’t believe they had won. The Farrington Road company, which employs 155 staff and has a turnover of £86 million, triumphed on the back of unveiling new recycling technologies.
Mr Jones [pictured] said: “We are gobsmacked at winning, over the moon. It’s absolutely great news. This is recognition for a lot of hard work. We’re really proud and made up with the award.”
Gabriela Hammond [pictured] human resources manager, said: “It is representative of a lot of hard work over the past year. We feel it is something that is important for the industry and the community. The environment is a big priority for us and looking for an innovative product was something we researched and felt strongly about and this is the result. This is our first time at the awards and is something we will definitely enter again. It is really good for companies who do work hard for the community to be rewarded.
“Without these sort of things recognising small and medium businesses, they don’t get the praise and it is those businesses which will get us through the recession.”
Mr Colman, director of capital delivery for United Utilities, said: “From our point of view we are really proud to be sponsors, particularly of this environment award, in the sense that it is really good to see such innovation from a North West company. It is part of the pride of the region. It was a very competitive category and they’ve done exceptionally well, but the product speaks for itself. It was a real coup to have a local company coming up with such an innovative solution.”
Burnley-based VEKA Plc are part of the global VEKA Group.
