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Setting sail for success

There was plenty to celebrate at the Incentive and Motivation Awards 2015

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Celebration, surprises and socialising were the order of the evening as the industry gathered aboard the Silver Sturgeon luxury yacht on the river Thames, for the Incentive and Motivation Awards 2015.

“We are setting out on a new voyage,” said Wendy Carter, Awards Director. “We’re laying the foundations for a new era – a new community of people with whom we can share all the creativity, innovation and talent the industry has to offer. Tonight is an evening of celebration and networking, but most importantly we, the industry, pulling together – shaping and creating our own path – joining forces.”

The dress code was ‘nautical or navy’ as guests came aboard for an awards evening with a difference. In keeping with the evening’s nautical note, there was even a ‘stowaway’ on board, looking remarkably like Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean!

Champagne was flowing thanks to the generous sponsorship of Procurement International, while guests danced the night away to the harmonious sounds of the brilliant Bombshell Belles, who performed popular music of the 1940s and 1950s as well as adding their distinctive vintage sound to music from other genres.

“These were long overdue awards recognising the great work and the innovation of agencies creating loyalty and rewards programmes for major brands throughout Europe,” said Ian Rosewell, MD of Procurement International.

“It was great to see so many up-and-coming agency gurus from all around Europe which for me confirms Motivate Europe has ‘got it right’. Holding the awards ceremony on the Silver Sturgeon was in itself a reward ‘par excellence’ – it was a truly rewarding experience.

“Procurement International was honoured to support the Awards and delighted to be drinks sponsor, which kick-started the most memorable of evenings.”

The industry had plenty to celebrate as the winners received their unique award trophies, produced and engraved by Bristol Blue Glass.

“This was a great evening because all the people that matter were there,” said John Sylvester, Executive Director of p&mm. “The tone and style of the evening was great, and it delivered exactly what we want in the industry – an opportunity to talk to each other and to find out what’s going on and catch up.

“This is a small industry that is part of many others and to have an awards event dedicated to our industry, that celebrates the growing importance of what we do, is really important. Awards are fundamentally what this industry is about. They drive the right behaviours and they encourage businesses to do great things.”

SwingGroup had a lot to celebrate as they won awards in all three of the categories for which they submitted: Best use of technology in a motivation programme, Most improved business performance programme, and Most innovative channel incentive programme.

“This gives us recognition of our hard work and the investment which we have been doing since 2004 in the Motisha incentive management technology platform. But most of all we are very proud that an international jury has recognised the outstanding results we have achieved for our customers.” – Gunther Everaert, Managing Director, SwingGroup.

John Sylvester was the winner of the award for Outstanding contribution to the industry.

“It was a great honour to win, especially in such esteemed company, and it was completely unexpected – I’m very touched at the effort my team put into entering me! They had been hiding from me all evening, and when they emerged wearing masks of my face, they made winning even more of a high point. Winning the award is very gratifying on a corporate level, and on a personal basis it demonstrates how powerful recognition and reward really is.”
– John Sylvester, Executive Director, p&mm

Ovation Incentives picked up the award for Best use of prepaid in an incentive programme.

“Being acknowledged by our industry peers for excellence is a really great honour. A tremendous amount of effort goes into creating and managing programmes for our clients and to see that recognised publicly gives everyone who is involved, especially those unsung heroes behind the scenes making it all work, a fantastic sense of pride and purpose.” 
– Jonathan Grey, Founder and CEO, Ovation Incentives.

Outstanding Branding collected their award for Best strategic use of promotional products.

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am for #teamOB – another award won! We have been so successful of late; the awards shelves in our office are starting to become overcrowded! It makes me so proud that we are continually breaking new boundaries and making an impact on our industry. This win in particular, proves the true power of promotional merchandise and how it can bring great success to a marketing campaign.” – Sarah Penn, Managing Director, Outstanding Branding

Andrew Wilmot of Maroon Elephant collected the award for Most effective employee recognition programme on behalf of Solterbeck.

“It is been an onerous task to get the concept of recognition up and running and to change mindsets. Having rallied and introduced a programme that today has won accolades around the globe is overwhelming yet a most fulfilling experience. Having a string of awards is the ‘icing on the cake’ for an organisation and as a professional achievement. A stark and successful case to prove employee recognition is as much, if not more, about the practice of appreciation as a financial reward.” – Srini Srinivasan, Head of HR Services at Schweppes Australia

Corporate Rewards took home two prestigious awards: Most effective use of travel incentives in an incentive programme and Best use of social media in a reward, recognition or motivation programme.
“We are overjoyed to receive two accolades at the Incentive and Motivation Awards 2015. They represent our dedication and commitment as a company to create successful programmes for our clients; engaging employees with the business to ultimately drive performance, ROI and key results.
We are delighted that our passion, expertise and experience have been recognised within these awards and show our skills in creating award winning incentive programmes and events.” – David Gould, Managing Director, Corporate Rewards


The high calibre of entries made judging a challenging task, with several entrants being very highly commended or highly commended in their category – congratulations to BI WORLDWIDE, Zibrant, AYMTM, Edenred and Grass Roots.

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