PAPER INDUSTRY AWARDS

The event was kindly hosted by Mark Pawsey MP, who chairs the APPG on Packaging, and attended by a number of Parliamentarians from across the chamber, including Shadow Cabinet Members and Constituency Members of Parliament.  

The awards recognised success across five categories: Recycling, Sustainable Innovation, Community Engagement, Health and Safety, and Skills. The six winners, with two winners in the Sustainable Innovation Category, were recognised with a glass trophy.   The awards attracted a wide range of entries and the wealth of talent from across the industry was well showcased. The quality of the entries demonstrated both the achievements of the industry and their wider impact, from boosting sustainability and increasing recycling rates, to developing the skills of the workforce and employing apprentices, and from improving health and safety practices to developing positive community relations.  

The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of the Paper Gold Medal, which is the ultimate Industry Award.  The Paper Gold Medal is a special award which recognises a few outstanding people who work to further the interests of the Paper industry, over and above their duties to any individual company. Since its inception in in the late 1960s, the committee of the Gold Medal Association, comprising the leaders of many of the UK’s well known trade associations, has met to consider nominations and make the award to the person considered to have done most to further the interests of the paper and allied industries in the UK.

This year the Gold Medal was presented to Bud Hudspith, formerly of the Trade Union Unite. This is a prestigious career achievement, and the recipient automatically gains membership of the exclusive Gold Medal Association, receiving a solid gold presentation medal. Bud has devoted his career to improving the health and safety of the Paper Industry, and indeed other industries.  

Andrew Large, CPI Director General, said: “CPI was delighted to host the Paper Industry Gold Awards for the UK’s Paper-based Industries on the House of Commons Terrace. 

These awards were a fantastic opportunity to recognise the best of the industry across the different sectors and celebrate their many achievements as well as a chance to network in wonderful surroundings. I would like to thank the Paper Gold Medal Association for its support during this process. I was delighted to be able to present Bud Hudspith the Paper Gold Medal for his work in Health and Safety over many years. 

The awards showed that the industry has a lot to be proud of, and there are many remarkable individuals and businesses which do excellent work. I was extremely impressed by the number and quality of applications, and we were delighted to showcase this to senior politicians and stakeholders.”