Aimia Foods, Haydock crowned Britain's Best Factory

The family owned maker of consumer and trade branded beverages beat off 13 finalists including Siemens, Cummins and Sony to take the Toyota Material Handling Factory of the Year crown at the BFA Awards finals at London's Park Lane hotel. The Haydock factory wowed judges with its blend of inspiring management, superb deployment of strategy and market-leading innovation, an audience of over 300 industry leaders heard. Aimia had successfully turned corporate strategy into clearly understood, day to day shopfloor activities, the BFA Awards was told. Clear communication, constant encouragement and an investment in skills had helped supercharge workforce performance, judges said. Employees had delivered over £250,000 in savings through improvement ideas. Business boosting initiatives were championed by self-sufficient, high-performance work teams. The commitment to adding value also shone through in Aimia's product development, BFA Awards guests heard. Aimia Foods delivered £4m growth to one customer by improving the client's original product design. Aimia's product design flair has also masterminded new easy open cups for airlines, the BFA awards was told. Aimia also picked up the Best Household &General Products plant accolade, Best SME and People Management Award (joint winner) at the BFA awards. Aimia's BFA triumph comes after picking up three category awards in 2011. The company was founded in 1981 and employs over 250 people over three sites. Find out more about Aimia's secrets of success in WM's October Best Factory Awards special report.