Cumbrian wholesaler Pioneer Foodservice has been named the ‘North of England & Northern Ireland Family Business of the Year’.
Business owners from all corners of the UK attended the London event following their successes at regional family business award events.
Pioneer was awarded the prize for Cumbria earlier this year.
Paul Andrews, founder of Family Business United and creator of the national awards, said: “Pioneer Foodservice is an established family firm with three generations in the business. They are worthy winners of the ‘North & Northern Ireland Family Business of the Year 2018’, as this is a first-class business that has seen consistent growth in recent years with strong ethics and values that pervade a business that is incredibly well respected in the community, too.
“A model employer, strong governance and a family that embrace the very essence of what being a family business is all about. Pioneer triumphed in what was a very strong region this year and is a worthy winner and represents great ambassadors for the family business sector, too.”
Graham Jenkins, managing director of Pioneer Foodservice was delighted with the national award, said: “We were honoured to find out we were runners up in the nationwide category of Food Distribution and then elated to receive the award of Family Business of the Year for the North of England and Northern Ireland. We were picked out from a shortlist of 21 UK companies who made it through to the final round.
“This award was collected on behalf of everyone who works for our company and is a testament to the great relationship we have with our customers, our quality products and high service levels.”
Pioneer Foodservice is based in Carlisle and employs over 375 staff. The business is currently celebrating its 140th anniversary and is run by Jenkins and his brother, David, who is sales director. They are now a sixth-generation business, as the former’s daughter has just joined the business as a part-time Saturday sales assistant.
The company has retail stores in Cumbria and supplies caterers in northern England and southern Scotland.
