BKU Awards – Voted by you, awarded by us

The BKU Awards 2017 took place last night at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London. The evening was a roaring success with 300 members of the kitchen and bathroom industry celebrating hard work and achievement across the sector.

Organised by the publisher of BKU Magazine, Datateam Business Media, the BKU Awards is designed to recognise and highlight excellence across the sector, from leading retailers, to commendable manufacturers and outstanding individuals.

On arrival at the venue, guests were greeted with an exclusive champagne reception, sponsored by Claygate, providing the perfect environment for networking. Attendees then proceeded into the main hall where they received a warm welcome from BKU Magazine’s sales and advertising manager Max Shannon and publication and event manager Carl Hearnden.

Guests were treated to a sumptuous three-course meal before the brilliantly funny Jimmy Carr took to the stage to perform his comedy routine and present the awards.

Methven scooped the first award of the night, Best Bathroom Shower Brand of the Year. Villeroy & Boch was awarded Best Sanitaryware Brand of the Year, while Vado was the deserving winner of the Best Bathroom Tap Brand award. Utopia picked up the award for Best Bathroom Furniture Brand. HiB received the Best Bathroom Accessory Brand, bringing the Bathroom Brand Awards to a close.

The ceremony continued with the Retail Awards. Independent Bathroom Retailer of the Year, sponsored by RAK Ceramics, went to Wholesale Domestic. Snug Kitchens was awarded Independent Kitchen Retailer of the Year, sponsored by BA Components and CP Hart was named Multiple Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Methven.

New Kitchen Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Hafele, was scooped up by Moiety Kitchens. Beyond Bathrooms was the deserving winner of New Bathroom Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Frontline Bathrooms, while Diane Berry Kitchens picked up Kitchen Showroom of the Year, sponsored by British Ceramic Tile. Bathroom Showroom of the Year, sponsored by Compusoft and EQ Software, was awarded to Taylors Etc.

Following this were the Kitchen Brand Awards, kicking off with Best Appliance Brand of the Year, awarded to AEG. Silestone by Cosentino received the award for Best Work Surface Brand. Franke scooped up Best Kitchen Tap Brand of the Year, while Best Kitchen Component Brand went to BA Components. The award for Best Kitchen Sink Brand was picked up by Blanco. Finally, Uform was announced as Best Overall Kitchen Brand of the Year.

Jimmy proceeded to announce the General Brand Awards. Frontline Bathrooms was awarded Best Distributor of the Year, while Best Software Brand of the Year went to Virtual Worlds by Logicom. Bisque was named Best Heating Brand of the Year and Best Tiling Brand of the Year was picked up by British Ceramic Tile. The deserving winner of Best Overall Brand was Geberit.

The final category of the night was the People Awards. Stuart Dance from InHouse Ltd was announced as Best Sales Representative of the Year, sponsored by KBB Birmingham. The award for Best Customer Service went to Rhonda Darragh of BA Components.
Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by last year’s winner, founder and CEO of Ripples, Roger Kyme. The deserving winners of the 2017 Award were Mel and Andrew Streek of Claygate, honoured for their outstanding service to the industry. Mel and Andrew’s contribution to industry over the last 30 years has been outstanding and what they have accomplished in that time is exceptional, visionary and brave; said one of the many people who nominated them.

The proceedings concluded with the charity raffle, sponsored by Blanco, raising a generous sum for Rennie Grove Hospice Care. A fantastic night was rounded up with a final chance to network with clients, colleagues and friends.

Event and publication manager Carl Hearnden comments: “I am overwhelmed with the amount of support we have received from the industry this year. The BKU Awards 2017 had a fantastic turn out and it was brilliant to see both familiar and new faces alike at the event.
“All of our finalists should be congratulated; they have demonstrated exceptional hard work and dedication to the industry and should be very proud for having been shortlisted in such a prestigious event, it truly is a great achievement.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all of our brilliant sponsors, without whom the BKU Awards wouldn’t be possible.”
The BKU Awards 2017 were sponsored by BA Components, Blanco, British Ceramic Tile, Claygate, Compusoft and EQ Software, Frontline Bathrooms, Hafele, KBB Birmingham, Liebherr, Methven, RAK Ceramics, Uform and Virtual Worlds by Logicom.

For more information please visit www.bkuawards.co.uk