To read about the Verner Wheelock Excellence Awards winners see below
2022 Excellence Awards Winners
2021 Excellence Awards Winners
2020 Excellence Awards Winners
2019 Excellence Awards Winners
2018 Excellence Awards Winners
We’re very excited to announce the winners of our Verner Wheelock annual Excellence Awards. The awards, launched 10 years ago, recognise outstanding delegates and companies dedicated to training excellence and ethical excellence.
The winners are selected from a shortlist of nominations by Verner Wheelock trainers, auditors and staff. Outstanding delegates are identified during open and in-house courses throughout the previous year.
There are six categories: Students of the Year in HACCP, Food Safety and Auditing, Company Excellence, Ethical Excellence and Individual Excellence.
The winners are:
In addition to their trophies and certificates, all winners receive vouchers against future training with Verner Wheelock.
The delegates winning Student of the Year awards all achieved standout results in either RSPH Level 4 Food Safety & Hygiene, RSPH Level 4 HACCP or FDQ Lead Auditor and demonstrated a passion and aptitude for the subjects during training.
Gary Johnston, Regional Technical Manager for Morrisons Convenience
“I found the Level 4 Food Safety course both informative and engaging and it provided excellent preparation for the exams that followed. I’m pleased to have been able utilise the in-depth knowledge that I have gained from my studies in my day-to-day job role, and I’m both grateful and proud that my efforts have been recognised by Verner Wheelock.”
Katherine Cook, Fochabers Quality Manager at Baxters
“I am thrilled to win this award! The Lead Auditor course by Verner Wheelock was a great interactive course, with an excellent trainer and training colleagues from around the food industry. I have taken part in a number of training courses run by Verner Wheelock, and they are always of a high standard, in terms of the trainer, content and course material provided.”
Daniel Jarman, Technical Manager, Tyrell’s (KP Snacks)
“I was very honoured to pick up the HACCP Student of the Year Award for 2024. My first ever academic award and one I am extremely proud of! HACCP is not the most enthralling of subjects but the team at Verner Wheelock delivered the Level 4 course exceptionally, including some amazing real-life examples to help understand the process further. I attended the course remotely, but it flowed so well that I felt part of the session at all times.
I have previously taken Lead Auditor training with Verner Wheelock and again, it was an excellent week, which gave me so much knowledge and a better understanding of the subject. I honestly couldn’t have asked for more from a training course and fully recommend it to everyone. I will be returning for Level 4 Food Safety later this year!”
Paul Cartwright, Supplier Auditor, Forza Foods
"Receiving this award is a huge honour for me. My training with Verner Wheelock has been incredible, filled with valuable lessons and skill-building. I'm deeply grateful for their guidance, which has played a big part in my success. This award reflects the amazing training experience I had with Verner Wheelock.
Paul impressed the trainers and Verner Wheelock staff with his passion and determination to succeed as a Lead Auditor.
Encirc
Charlotte Hughes, Professional Development Specialist
“We are privileged to win the Company Excellence award, and we look forward to continuing our fantastic working relationship with everyone at Verner Wheelock.’’
Ryan Ledsom – Quality Technologist
“Verner Wheelock is a really good training provider, and I have been lucky enough to benefit from some of their courses. So, this recognition is all the more important to us at Encirc.’’
Encirc employees have attended a variety of open and in-house courses with Verner Wheelock, including Level 3 HACCP, Auditing Skills, Legal Labelling and Product Authenticity & Food Defence and have achieved excellent exam results. Their strong commitment to training is the reason that they have been awarded the Verner Wheelock Company Excellence Award 2024.
ESG Drysdale
Arthur Reynolds, Health, Safety & Ethical Manager
“This recognition reaffirms our commitment to maintaining strong ethical and social standards, which are at the heart of everything we do.
The semi-announced SMETA audits we undergo with Verner Wheelock are rigorous and highly constructive. We are proud to have achieved zero non-conformances in 2024, a testament to our supportive culture and dedication to continuous improvement.
VWA's professional approach not only ensures compliance but also encourages us to set even higher standards. We are thrilled to have this award as a reflection of our work.”
Ethical Excellence Award winners, ESG Drysdale, were selected as they had shown the best improvement, having completed their SMETA audit without any non-conformances being raised. Health, Safety and Ethical Manager, Arthur Reynolds, was delighted to win and commented,
Congratulations to all of our award winners from everybody at Verner Wheelock!
2023 was a busy year for Verner Wheelock. We trained over 2000 delegates in HACCP, food safety, auditing and other specialist subjects and completed 250 SMETA ethical audits. There were therefore several standout delegates and companies to consider for the annual Verner Wheelock Excellence Awards. As you can imagine, it was a difficult task to select the eventual winners.
The Excellence Awards were first introduced at our 25th anniversary celebrations in 2015 and recognise outstanding students in HACCP, Auditing and Food Safety. In addition we award prizes for Individual Excellence, Company Excellence and Ethical Excellence. The winners are…
The award for Food Safety Student of the Year 2023 went to Victoria Phipps, Product Launch Team Leader at AB World Foods. Victoria achieved an amazing 98.5% in her RSPH Level 4 Food Safety examination and was an excellent student. “I am extremely grateful to have been awarded Food Safety Student of the Year after completing my Level 4 course and achieving a great exam result, thank you again to all at Verner Wheelock for their support,” she said.
HACCP Student of the Year 2023 was awarded to Sara Hardacre, a Technical Manager at Warburtons, who also impressed the trainers with her ability. Sara was “thrilled” to receive the award and said, “The Level 4 HACCP course was outstanding with great content and discussion led by Nigel Robertshaw. Nigel brought an energy and enthusiasm to HACCP which he supported with a breadth of industry knowledge. I really enjoyed it and I cannot recommend it enough.”
Ben Morrison of Avara Foods was the recipient of the Auditing Student of the Year 2023 award, having attended the FDQ Lead Auditor course back in February 2023. He said, “It was a lovely surprise to win the award. I really enjoyed the course structure, content and delivery – the location, premises and staff at VWA only enhanced the experience further, encouraging me to relax, learn and contribute freely. Thank you to trainer Peter Clarke & the Verner Wheelock team for this award and for such a rewarding learning experience.”
The individual Excellence Award is given to somebody who has shown a real desire to develop through learning. This year it was awarded to Trevor Gane of Beatson Clark, who attended our Delivering Training course. At the start of the four days he was a little unsure of his capabilities but underwent a huge transformation in terms of self-belief. By the day of the final presentation he proved himself to be not only confident and competent but an excellent trainer too.
Trevor said, “I would like to thank Verner Wheelock for giving me the confidence in myself from feeling that I could not achieve what was required to pass the Delivering Training course and very much out of my comfort zone to delivering a presentation that even I was amazed by, and will be using for future customer visits here at Beatson Clark.
This award just gives me more confidence to carry out what I have set out to do and deliver training to a very high standard. For anyone considering any course through Verner Wheelock, just go for it. What an amazing place to do it!”
As well as a trophy and certificate, the individual winners received vouchers for £250 towards their next training courses with Verner Wheelock.
The award for Company Excellence went to James Hall & Co. Ltd, who have trained with Verner Wheelock for several years across different subjects. They have shown a commitment to continual staff training to ensure that the products they produce and distribute are safe and compliant. Lee Smith, HR Director at James Hall & Co. Ltd, said, “We’re extremely pleased to be recognised by Verner Wheelock as the winner of their Company Excellence Award for 2023. We have a fantastic working relationship with them, and they play an integral role in ensuring our workforce are skilled in their roles, enabling our business to maintain exceptional standards.”
The Turmeric Co. was awarded the Ethical Excellence Award for 2023 following their first SMETA ethical audit. Not only did they have a good audit, but the auditor and VWA’s ethical team were extremely impressed with how proactive the company was throughout the entire audit process. “We are very proud and delighted to have been named the winner of the ‘Ethical Excellence Award 2023,’ as voted by the Verner Wheelock team!” said Virginija Antanaviciute. “We are looking forward to using our voucher for training courses this year”.
Each company winner received a certificate, trophy and £500 towards their next training courses with Verner Wheelock.
Congratulations to all our winners!
Verner Wheelock has been providing food industry training ever since the Food Safety Act was passed in 1990. We have trained thousands of delegates over the years. The Verner Wheelock Excellence Awards are our way of recognising outstanding delegates and also companies dedicated to training excellence and ethical excellence.
There are 6 awards – HACCP Student of the Year, Food Safety Student of the Year, Auditing Student of the Year, Individual Excellence, Company Excellence and Ethical Excellence.
The winners are:
Sergei Jegorov, Vendor Assurance, Co-ordinator Speedibake
“Food Safety Level 4 with Verner Wheelock is one of the best investments I’ve made. The course was intense, full of discussion and insights from their highly experienced tutors Peter and Nigel. Apart from deeper knowledge of food safety, the course also teaches the importance of management mindset - Plan, Do, Check, Act when managing food safety. I can highly recommend Verner Wheelock for Food Safety training.”
Michael Murray, Technical Officer, Hilltop Honey Ltd
“You don’t need to be a delegate from a huge organisation to be considered for a Verner Wheelock Excellence Award - and here’s proof! Michael, from award-winning Hilltop Honey was very pleased to be recognised our HACCP award. He achieved a strong examination result, demonstrated his ability during exercises and contributed to discussions throughout the course.”
Karen Miles, Senior QA, Soreen
“I was very surprised to receive this award, I completed the course remotely but with a good mixture of theory and interactive practical sessions, it was very well organised and there was plenty of opportunities to interact. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would highly recommend to others”
Molly Jones, L&D Administrator, BBF Limited
“At BBF we always focus on individual excellence so to get this specific award, is amazing! I felt really supported during my training, which helped me understand, as well as all the tasks and interactive sessions. It has made me much more confident when it comes to helping others understand the importance of food safety. Verner Wheelock has an amazing team which I get to work alongside for our training needs, and I look forward to doing more with them.”
Ornua Ingredients Europe
Ornua Ingredients Europe Ledbury Technical Manager Rachel McNeill commented: "Delegates from Ornua Ingredients Europe UK have undertaken a variety of different training with Verner Wheelock to enable them to undertake their jobs to the best of their ability, contribute to the company and progress their careers within the food industry. Verner Wheelock has awarded Ornua Ingredients Europe UK the Company Excellence Award 2022 for demonstrating commitment to a culture of continuous improvement in food safety throughout the organisation. This is due to our structured approach to training to ensure staff, from new starters to management, have an understanding of Food Safety, HACCP and Auditing Skills at a level appropriate to their role.
Cooke Aquaculture Scotland Ltd
“Cooke Aquaculture Scotland are thrilled to win this ethical excellence award. It acknowledges the hard work the teams have put in to guarantee we operate in a principled manner committing to a culture of continuous improvement in ethical training. All employees, from new starters to management, always ensure best practice whilst adhering to ethical principles and this award is for each and every one of the teams that have helped us ensuring this best practice!” – Vicci Laird, Head of HR (UK)
Congratulations to all our 2022 award winners!
Craig Darby with Natasha Kaplinsky
Verner Wheelock delegate, Craig Darby, of Samworth Brothers, achieved the highest marks in the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)’s Level 4 Food Safety & Hygiene examination and was awarded the RSPH Hygeia Award for Food Safety from broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky at a recent ceremony in London.
Craig attended the 5-day advanced level food safety course in January, at Verner Wheelock’s training centre in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
He said, “I’m very proud to have won this award – although it was completely unexpected! I thoroughly enjoyed the course itself. There was a large and varied subject matter to cover, but the trainers at Verner Wheelock were very engaging throughout.” He added, “I’ve completed several courses at Verner Wheelock now. The staff are always friendly and the tutors definitely know their stuff. The training facility at Broughton Hall is also a really pleasant environment to work in.”
Craig joins a long line of Verner Wheelock delegates who have been RSPH prize winners. Last year Lynn-Anne Allinson of Symingtons picked up the Food Safety Award. The previous year Verner Wheelock delegates were awarded the RSPH prizes for both Food Safety and HACCP. In fact, in the past 5 years the company has trained 7 out of the 10 prize winners.
Lynn-Anne Allinson
Lynn-Anne Allinson is the latest in a number of Verner Wheelock delegates to win the Food Safety prize at the Royal Society of Public Health’s (RSPH) annual Hygeia Awards.
A Raw Materials Specialist at dried foods manufacturer, Symington’s in Leeds, Lynn-Anne received the award for achieving the top marks in the RSPH Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety and Hygiene (Manufacturing) examination this year.
She took the examination after completing an intensive 5-day training course at food industry training specialist, Verner Wheelock, based on the Broughton Hall Business Park in Skipton, North Yorkshire. The prizes were presented by broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky at a ceremony in London recently.
This is the fourth time that a Verner Wheelock delegate has received the RSPH Food Safety prize in the past five years. Last year it was won by Justyna Pupiec-Adamowicz of Nestle and in 2015 and 2014 it was won by other Symingtons employees Sarah Jolly-Hart and Liane Davis (shared with Verner Wheelock delegate Peter Smith). Verner Wheelock delegates have also won the HACCP prize twice during this time.
After the event, Lynn-Anne said: “I am delighted to have received the RSPH prize. Taking the Level 4 Award in Food Safety & Hygiene has given me added confidence in my knowledge in this area, as well as providing a useful insight into other areas of food manufacturing to which I’ve not yet had exposure.”
Speaking of her experience at Verner Wheelock, she said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the course delivered by Verner Wheelock. The training materials were of an excellent standard, and the tutors extremely knowledgeable in their field. There was a great collaborative learning environment in which both tutors and students all shared their experiences from their different areas of the food industry, which I found beneficial.”
Verner Wheelock has been providing food safety, HACCP and auditing courses to the food industry since 1990. The company also offers specialist courses such as Practical Allergen Awareness , Legal Labelling, Root Cause Analysis and Ethical Trading Workshops.
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) is the UK’s longest-established public health organisation in the UK. Its qualifications are highly regarded within the food and other industries. It was formed in October 2008 through the merger of the Royal Society of Health and the Royal Institute of Public Health.
If you ever needed a reason to train with Verner Wheelock – here’s two! This year two Verner Wheelock delegates won the top prizes for the Level 4 Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing and Level 4 Award in HACCP at the prestigious Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) AGM in London. Yanis Skerstins, a Global A&A auditor at pladis Global’s Midlands Distribution Centre in Ashby-de-la-Zouch was the joint recipient of the RSPH HACCP prize. Another Verner Wheelock delegate, Justyna Pupiec-Adamowicz, a Hygiene Manager at Nestle UK in Carlisle, won the prize for Food Safety in Manufacturing.
Yanis Skerstins
Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com
Yanis was thrilled to receive his RSPH prize, saying, “I am incredibly pleased to be receiving an RSPH prize for my result in Level 4 Award in HACCP. I thoroughly enjoyed studying with Verner Wheelock. The combination of friendly staff, engaging tutors and beautiful countryside surroundings creates the perfect learning environment. The tutor used his own industry knowledge and encouraged the room to share their experiences to ensure everyone understood both the theoretical and practical applications of HACCP.
Since the course I assumed a lead role within the pladis Wigston HACCP team and have recently started working within the global audit and assessment function for pladis (formerly United Biscuits). The skills learnt from the HACCP course,as well as the Level 4 Food Safety course, have enabled me to effectively review supplier HACCP plans and evaluate their effectiveness.”
Justyna Pupiec-Adamowicz
Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com
Justyna said “My working day is focused around GMP including hygiene, pest management and food safety, so it was great to get the RSPH prize for Level 4 Food Safety. I really enjoyed my training with Verner Wheelock. I felt that the course materials, examples and level of detail provided was perfect for me. All the tutors were very experienced both practically and theoretically and the training took place in a nice, diverse and relaxing atmosphere. It really boosted my confidence.”
The prizes are proof of how great training and revision can pay off. We pride ourselves on our excellent exam results across all the courses we offer. Not just Food Safety and HACCP, but also Auditing and our specialist courses. We believe that only using experienced tutors with practical industry experience makes all the difference. They bring courses to life with real-life examples. Plus, because they’ve worked in food manufacturing environments themselves, they understand the challenges faced and are able to answer delegates’ questions.
Our Managing Director, Alison Wheelock, commented, “We’re so pleased that Yanis and Justyna won the prizes. The Level 4 examinations are pretty tough and to have achieved the highest marks this year means that they both understood the subjects fully and worked really hard.” Verner Wheelock delegates have scooped the annual RSPH prizes for Level 4 Food Safety and Level 4 HACCP on numerous occasions. 2015’s Level 4 Food Safety in manufacturing prize went to Sarah Jolly-Hart, who was based at Symington’s. Sarah’s former colleague Lianne Davis shared the award in 2014 with another Verner Wheelock delegate, Peter Smith. Helen Kearney of Nature’s Best took the Level 4 HACCP prize that year.
Verner Wheelock has an exceptional track record in Level 4 Food Safety. In three out of the past four years, delegates we have trained have achieved the highest examination marks in the UK and received a coveted award from the RSPH.
In 2011, it was won by Wayne Bonadie, at the time with Dairycrest. In 2013 two delegates from Verner Wheelock were Level 4 Food Safety prizewinners – Peter Smith of QSDA and Lianne Davis of Symington’s. (Verner Wheelock delegate Helen Kearney of Nature’s Best also scooped the Level 4 HACCP award that year).
Picture by: www.matthewwalkerphotography.com
The award for 2014 went to Lianne’s colleague at Symington’s, Sarah Jolly-Hart, who is a Technical Manager at the company’s largest site in Leeds. She collected the award at the annual RSPH conference in October this year.
Sarah says of the training: “I was Quality Manager at a smaller Symington’s site and I’ve actually been promoted over the last two years to be a Technical Manager at the largest site within the company. The most useful aspect of this qualification for me was the microbiology side. The training gave me a better understanding of microbiological requirements, which I’ve been able to integrate into my HACCP plan.
As a Technical Manager my main role is to provide safe food for the consumers and make sure we are compliant with all retailers Codes of Practice and also any food industry standards that we have to work to. This qualification has helped me in my career and in my workplace.”
Students who trained with Verner Wheelock during 2013 scooped fifty percent of the qualification awards at the recent Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) Conference and Awards Ceremony.
Over 66,000 people per year take RSPH examinations, but only six awards were presented for the highest marks achieved in the past year. These were awarded to Verner Wheelock Students Lianne Davis (pictured), and Peter Smith, who were joint winners of the RSPH Level 4 Award in Food Safety in Manufacturing title; and Helen Kearney, who scored the highest marks in the RSPH Level 4 HACCP Award in Managing the HACCP System examination.
Lianne, who is a Quality and Specifications Technologist for Bradford-based dried convenience foods manufacturer, Symington’s was presented with a certificate by John Cridland of the CBI at the event in London. Consultant Peter Smith of QSDA, Fife, and Helen Kearney who is an Operations Manager at Nature’s Best, based in Drogheda, Ireland, were unable to attend the event, so Alison Wheelock and Carole Dickason of Verner Wheelock accepted their awards on their behalf.
Carole said of the RSPH conference and ceremony, which also featured presentations from Professor Sir Michael Marmot and Jane Ellison MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health, “I found the talks informed and inspiring and I felt really privileged to be able to celebrate the achievements of our three delegates during the awards ceremony.”Wayne Bonadie, a student with food industry training experts, Verner Wheelock Associates, gained the highest marks in the country when he took his RSPH Level 4 Food Safety for Manufacturing examination last year and was recognised with an award at the recent RSPH Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony in London.
Mr Bonadie, who now works at Essex distillers and blenders, Hayman Limited, was the Quality Assurance Manager and HACCP Team Leader of a 4 million litres a week liquid milk production site for Dairy Crest, Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire at the time of the training. An excellent student, he had previously undertaken his Lead Auditor and Level 4 HACCP training with VWA and achieved Distinctions in both.
He said “I was pleasantly surprised to win the RSPH award. Being responsible for food safety and quality at such a large manufacturing operation, it was felt that a detailed overview of food safety issues in manufacturing environments was needed to better perform my daily duties as well as train factory operatives. Also many customers, including supermarkets, now require site QA and Technical Managers to have the firm grounding and training in food safety which the RSPH Level 4 qualifications requires.”
The course was structured and delivered in such a way that that Wayne was able to use the knowledge he gained from day one. Now at Hayman, he says he will be using it “to improve good manufacturing practices, food safety and also operator training and awareness.”
VWA’s Managing Director, Alison Wheelock, said “We were delighted and proud that Wayne won the RSPH Award. It’s testament to both his ability and the talent of our trainers. Our students consistently achieve very high marks, but Wayne really was outstanding. ”
Tutors on the VWA RSPH Level 4 Food Safety for Manufacturing course when Wayne attended in September 2011 were Ruth Bell, Colleen Rudge and Peter Clarke. VWA use a variety of trainers so that delegates can derive full benefit from their different specialisms.
As Alison adds “Ruth specialises in HACCP, Colleen is an Environmental Health Officer and Peter has many years’ industry experience as a trainer and auditor. Having three tutors rather than one also means that course content is kept fresh and up-to-date since all three input to the course content and have a wide range of experience and case studies to illustrate key points.”
Certificate in Nutrition and Health |
The Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize |
Level 4 Award in Food Safety in Catering |
1st Prize |
Advanced Certificate in Applied HACCP Principles |
1st Prize |
Janet Harding of North Yorkshire County Caterers receives The Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize from Noel Cleave, for the RSPH Certificate in Nutrition & Health, 2007.
Jo Knight from Derbyshire Healthy Schools receives the award for the RSPH Level 4 Award in Food Safety in Catering, 2007.
Chris Robinson of Gibson’s Foods receives his award for the best student in the RSPH Advanced Certificate in Applied HACCP Principles, 2007.
Certificate in Nutrition and Health |
The Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize |
Intermediate Certificate in Food Safety |
Sainsbury’s plc (1st Prize) |
Margaret Fleming receives the Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize 2005 from Noel Cleave
Emma Grace receives the Sainsbury’s plc prize for the top RSPH student in Intermediate Food Safety 2005
Advanced Certificate in Food Safety |
Sainsbury’s plc |
Sivaji Poduri receives the Sainsbury’s plc Prize for the highest mark in the RSPH Advanced Certificate in Food Safety 2004.
Certificate in Nutrition and Health |
The Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize |
Intermediate Certificate in Applied HACCP Principles |
General Mills Europe Prize |
Jayne Miller receives the General Mills Europe Prize for the best student in the Intermediate Certificate in Applied HACCP Principles 2003.
Intermediate Certificate in Applied HACCP Principles |
The Pillsbury Europe Prize |
Certificate in Nutrition and Health |
The Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize |
Intermediate Certificate in Applied HACCP Principles |
The Pillsbury Europe Prize |
Certificate in Food Hygiene and Safety |
Dettox Prize |
Certificate in Nutrition and Health |
The Thomas Latimer Cleave Memorial Prize |
Diploma in Food Hygiene and Safety | The Gardner Merchant Prize |