BPMA Annual Awards Dinner
Award winners celebrated in style at the 2023 BPMA Annual Awards Dinner, hosted at CBS Arena in Coventry this January.
Fresh from the first day of Merchandise World, guests from across the promotional merchandise industry gathered to catch up with friends and colleagues started their evening with a drinks reception. Along with a reminder of the recent BPMA Product Award Winners announced earlier in January, the chance to relax at the end of a busy day was welcomed!
The last dinner was hosted in April 2022, returning after a two year break after the pandemic and the event this year was back in its normal January slot. The BPMA Awards are awarded annually to member suppliers and distributors following a vote placed by each member. In addition, several categories were available for members to enter their marketing campaigns and celebrate the best of British with the Briman Award.
The dinner is always supported by generous sponsors and event supporters. This year’s category sponsors were Geiger, Preseli, DTB, PF Concept, Bic Graphics, Promo Collection, Victorinox and BRIMAN group. Several members of the Board also presented on the night. WCM+A generously provided the trophies and the BPMA Recognition trophy by Laser Crystal. Melt in the mouth chocolates at the dinner were supplied by The Sweet People.
Hosting and comparing the event, the BPMA’s charismatic Chairman Haydn Willetts kicked off the evening with his thanks to all attending to get the evening off to a roaring start. The first category up was Supplier of the Year up to £2m, the finalists were The USB Group, Bio Laboratories and Desktop Ideas with Bio Laboratories landing the winning vote for this category. Next up was Supplier of the Year £2m+ sponsored by Geiger, with a strong line up of finalists: Laltex Group, XD Connects and WCM+A with Laltex Group scooping the Award, they flooded the stage with a very excited team!
The next Awards announced focused on Distributors and this year, more turnover categories were recognised. Distributor of the Year up to £250k, sponsored by Promo Collection, had finalists Zippy Promos, ETC. Branding and AA Promotional Products on the edge of their seats. Zippy Promos landed this first distributor award. Distributor of the Year £250k-£500k, sponsored by Victorinox, announced contenders Beeline Promotional Products, TSF Branded and Manic Merchandise with Manic Merchandise winning this category.
Sponsored by Preseli, Distributor of the Year £500k-£1m finalists were Cyan Group, Navillus and Project Merchandise with Navillus taking the Award home. Distributor of the Year £1m-£2m – sponsored by PF Concept, hailed finalists One Stop Promotions Ltd, GoPromotional and Bounce Creative Designs. Bounce Creative Design jumped on stage to accept their Award for this category.
Taking a short pause for dinner, the room was buzzing with excitement for the final awards of the evening which included the long awaited Product Awards Grand Prix and BPMA Recognition Award. Bic Graphics, sponsoring the Distributor of the Year £2-5m category, were on stage as finalists Allwag Promotions, Premier, and Pellacraft waited to hear who had won. Allwag Promotions received this Award to cheers and applause. With the final Distributor of the Year Award over £5m, sponsored by DTB, contenders Fluid, Total Merchandise and Brand Addition waited nervously for the gold envelope to reveal Fluid as this year’s winner.
The Distributor and Supplier Marketing Campaign of the Year Awards were next. Willetts shared the judge’s feedback before naming this year’s winner and talked of the innovation and inspiration from every entrant to this category. Judged by an independent marketing judging panel, The Distributor of the Year Marketing Campaign finalists were Fluid for their ‘Festivals & Events’ campaign, Vibrant Colour for their ‘Master Your Merch’ campaign and Geiger’s ‘Geiger Green Live’ campaign. Geiger took the award with their ‘Geiger Green Live’ campaign, impressive work with long term strategy in mind. Judges also awarded Vibrant Colour’s entry Highly Commended.
The Supplier Marketing Campaign of the Year saw finalists WCM+A for their ‘Sustainable British Manufacturing’ campaign, The Outdoors Company with their ‘Take A Stand, Source Responsibly’ campaign and Kingly’s ‘Inspirational Stories’ campaign. The winner of this category was WCM+A’s ‘Sustainable British Manufacturing campaign for their excellent work during 2022, driving exceptional results, new clients, and revenues. Kingly also received Highly Commended from our judging panel.
The BRIMAN Award was a further opportunity for distributors to show off the best of British. Judged by BRIMAN members looking for distributor members who had promoted British made and finished promotional products, Premier Print & Promotions walked away with this Brit-centric accolade from the BRIMAN members.
The Product Awards Grand Prix was also awarded at the dinner. A new addition to the Product Awards line up; the Grand Prix was awarded at the final judging panel and selected from all Platinum Product Award winners. Juniper Product’s Wellness Journal was voted Grand Prix winner by the panel and a delighted team received the award to a huge round of applause.
Last award of the evening was the BPMA Recognition Award. The BPMA Board decided to start a new tradition this year, recognising outstanding contributors to our industry. The person selected for this year’s BPMA Recognition Award with Andrew Hill who has for many years gone above and beyond, making sure the reputation and position of the industry is upheld.
The evening concluded with conversation, music, dancing and fun and whilst PM was sure there were few sore heads for day two of Merchandise World, this fantastic event marked the return to business as usual for 2023.
Winners List
Supplier of the Year up to £2m
Winner: Bio Laboratories
Supplier of the Year £2m+, sponsored by Geiger
Winner: Laltex Group
Distributor of the Year up to £250k, sponsored by Promo Collection
Winner: Zippy Promos
Distributor of the Year up to £250k-£500k, sponsored byVictorinox
Winner: Manic Merchandise
Distributor of the Year up to £500k-£1m, sponsored by Preseli
Winner: Navillus Print Gifts
Distributor of the Year up to £1m-£2m, sponsored by PF Concept
Winner: Bounce Creative Design
Distributor of the Year up to £2m-£5m, sponsored by Bic Graphic
Winner: Allwag Promotions
Distributor of the Year up to £5m+, sponsored by DTB
Winner: Fluid Branding
Distributor Marketing Campaign of the Year
Winner: Geiger – Geiger Green Live Campaign
Supplier Marketing Campaign of the Year
Winner: WCM+A – Sustainable British Manufacturing Campaign
BRIMAN Award
Winner: Premier Print & Promotions
BPMA Recognition Award
Andrew Hill
The BPMA would like to thank everyone who attended and supported this event and we look forward to sharing more images of this event as they become available.
www.bpma.co.uk/annualawards #bpmaawards
