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Meet the latest winners of the
Finlays United Awards

Words: Rachael Steed

The Finlays United Global Recognition Awards are about recognizing the amazing things our people do across the world each and every day. Whether it’s going the extra mile for our customers or helping a colleague in need, these awards are a celebration of the truly extraordinary people who make Finlays a great place to work.

We are therefore proud and humbled to present to you the winners of the 2023 Finlays United Awards.

LIVING OUR TRUSTED VALUE

WINNER

Chris Walker

Group Business Manager from Head Office

Chris has been an invaluable member of the Finlays family for over two decades, delivering for his global colleagues in a complex and challenging role. He always acts with integrity, inclusivity, humility and transparency to deliver projects across our business – a true example of Living our Trusted Value.

RUNNERS UP

2nd Place:
Sharon Liparini
Controller from the US

3rd Place:
The Quality, Production and Logistics team
From Casa Fuente

LIVING OUR
SUSTAINABLE VALUE

WINNER

Huang Nanhu

Production Manager, Damin

Nanhu has been awarded for the Caustic Soda Recovery Initiative. This project reduced the daily use of caustic soda by more than 50%, delivering a huge cost saving, reducing wastewater discharge, and aligning Damin with China’s national green and environmental protection concepts. An outstanding achievement that will deliver benefits to both Damin and the environment.

RUNNERS UP

2nd Place:
Linda Ferguson
Commercialization Manager from the US

Joint 3rd Place:
Amélie Rey-Giraud
Group Climate Manager from Head Office

Joint 3rd Place:
Andrea Berg
Chief of Sustainability from Casa Fuentes

LIVING OUR
INNOVATIVE VALUE

WINNERS

Nicolie Hendrickson, Aaron Oakes, Youngmok Kim, Marisa Bouley and EJ Sousa from the US

This team came up with an innovative solution to help a customer achieve a gold standard cold brew coffee. This proactive and innovative thinking has set the stage for similar testing with food service operations across the country and is something the foodservice sales team is now able to offer to new and existing customers.

RUNNERS UP

2nd Place:
Dolores Wuepper
Talent Acquisition Director from the US

3rd Place:
Robin Abram and Adi Copeman
From Finlays Hull

THE SAFETY
CHAMPION AWARD

WINNER

The whole team at the Welisara Plant from Finlays Colombo

The team at Welisara has won this award for its excellent safety record, which is down to the ongoing efforts of every employee. In 2023, the team celebrated 2,500 days without a Loss Time Injury and demonstrated a number of business-leading initiatives to embed our positive safety culture. A fantastic example of our colleagues placing safety at the heart of everything they do.

RUNNERS UP

2nd Place:
Tyler Rockett, Adie Williams and Claire Lister
From Finlay Beverages

3rd Place:
Mark Vaught EHS Specialist from the US

DELIVERING
TOGETHER AWARD

WINNERS

Coki Fisseha, Linda Ferguson, Luis Gutierrez, Eric Wilson, Mark Nash, Zach Miller, Stephanie Thornton and Hilary Hursh from the US.

This team overcame hurdle after hurdle to close two important customer projects. They met weekly to solve problems, showing up with their actions completed, bringing ideas for solutions, and remaining engaged through tumultuous times. This led to a great result for both customers, making this a fantastic example of what can be achieved when we deliver together.

RUNNERS UP

2nd Place:
The Finlays Tea Extracts Team
From Kenya

3rd Place:
Shuguang Zhang and Amy Zhu
From Damin

THE OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARD

WINNERS

The Whole Team at Finlay Beverages

The UK retail market has been a challenging environment to operate in for over a decade. Over the last wo years, the team at Finlay Beverages has been on a mission to overcome these challenges and deliver for its customers through a relentless pursuit of excellence and customer focus. This fantastic team effort has put Finlay Beverages in a superb position to continue to deliver for its customers in the UK retail space and is the well-deserved winner of the Outstanding Performance Award.

RUNNERS UP

2nd Place:
Darren Jayatilaka
From Rest of World Extracts

3rd Place:
Mohamed Faizal
General Manager Sales and Business Development from Finlays Colombo

Congratulations to all our Winners and Runners-up on their fantastic achievements.

Rachael Steed

Group Head of HR
Rachael.Steed@Finlays.net