CELEBRATION
Awards night celebrates 50 years of Fleet Factors
Celebration – the Fleet Factors board agreed to throw a party to mark the firm’ s 50th anniversary.
A GOLDEN MILESTONE
PICTURES: STUART BOULTON WORDS: DAVE ROBSON
And the winner is … Fleet Factors!
Everyone was a winner on a night celebrating 50 years of gold standard service to the vehicle parts and refinish markets.
When Mike Hunter and John Smith set up a business supplying brake linings for lorries back in 1975, they surely couldn’ t have anticipated the success Fleet Factors has achieved.
Fifty years on and still proudly based in Middlesbrough and still owned by the same family, it has 26 main sites, operates more than 250 managed sites, runs more than 250 delivery vehicles and stocks a diverse range of well over 7,000 parts.
And at the heart of the business is its 420-strong team – dedicated, devoted and proud to play their part in the Fleet Factors story.
Keen to mark the company’ s golden anniversary and recognise the staff’ s part in it, the Fleet Factors board agreed to hold an awards ceremony.
Appropriately for a golden anniversary, the Gold Room in Middlesbrough’ s Dickens Inn was chosen to host the black-tie event – and what an event it turned out to be.
Nearly 150 Fleet Factors staff from as far afield as Luton and Scotland travelled to be part of what turned out to be a spectacular night.
Awards were presented and each of the 17 tables were named after some of the Fleet Factors“ legends”.
And, according to organiser Georgia Stanwick, the whole event couldn’ t have gone any better.
Accounts manager Georgia told Tees Business:“ It took a lot of planning, but it was well worth it.
“ We wanted it to feel special, but we didn’ t want it to be too serious or formal either – and I think we got the balance just right.”
The fun factor was certainly evident in some of the award categories, including“ Office Clown” and“ The Kit Kat Award – for someone who loves to take a break”!
However, others were more serious and designed to recognise people who, without their contribution, Fleet Factors wouldn’ t function as smoothly.
A definite highlight was the final award of the night, the Mike Hunter Award for Outstanding Contribution – named in loving memory of the man who started it all and always ran Fleet Factors with drive, integrity and honesty.
And it was extremely fitting that the winner, Linda Hunter from accounts, was a woman who worked with Mike on much of that journey.
Linda is celebrating her 38th year with the company and, with her knowledge and expertise, there’ s barely a job at Fleet Factors she doesn’ t know about.
A driving force behind the firm’ s success, Linda also established and now leads the returns department, shaping it into the efficient and highly respected team it is today.
Among the other winners was Tony Hall from Leeds, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment and dedication since joining the company in 1992.
106 | Tees Business