Manufacturer of the Year at Pump Industry Awards

  • 10-Apr-2013
SPP presented the prize at the PI Awards 2013 in Solihull SPP presented the prize at the PI Awards 2013 in Solihull
Manufacture Winner  - BBC World News Presenter Naga Munchetty, Emma Jenkins, Laura Hurcombe, Terry Newby and John Hollins from SPP being presented with the Manufacturer of the Year Award by a representative from sponsors John Crane. Lifetime Winner - BBC World News Presenter Naga Munchetty and a representative from the BPMA presenting Owen Shevlin from SPP Pumps with the Lifetime Achievement Award.


SPP Pumps, a leading provider of centrifugal pumps and associated systems for a global range of applications and sectors, was named as ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ at the 2013 Pump Industry Awards.

SPP was presented the prize on March 14 at the PI Awards in Solihull.

SPP previously won the award in 2008.

Established a decade ago, the PI Awards serve as a platform to acknowledge excellence in the industry and is hosted in association with the British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA).

The ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award is presented annually to the firm that has achieved recognition from contractors and customers for their success in areas such as technical expertise, tailor-made services, clear documentation, on-time delivery and a thorough after-sales service.

Throughout its 130-year history, SPP Pumps has strived to achieve this and more by providing engineering excellence and high performance pumping solutions to customers and industries where knowledge, service and expertise enhance value.

“We’re delighted. We’re honoured to get the award and to be recognised as ‘Manufacturer of the Year’,” said Bob Tichband, General Sales Manager at SPP. “We’re proud to be a British manufacturer and we’re proud to have been recognised by our peers as a quality manufacturer.”

“Fundamentally we’ve got great people, we’ve got a great team and great facilities at the manufacturing centre in Coleford. We’ve got a really strong management team and they’ve done wonders down there. The quality of the products that are produced are absolutely world class, which is something that we’re really proud of. We’re entering into new markets with new products, with bigger products and much more complex products that we’re manufacturing. We enjoy what we do, we want to grow and we are growing,” Tichband continued.

These sentiments echo those voiced by Owen Shevlin, Company Director at SPP, who stated: “This award represents acknowledgement for the rapid growth of SPP in the UK and its investments that it has made at its manufacturing facility in Coleford. SPP has already outgrown this facility and has applied for planning permission to extend it and believes that it will go from strength to strength.”

Shevlin himself also took home a prize on Thursday night, winning the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award.

In a career spanning more than three decades, Shevlin made his first foray into the pump industry in 1970 as a graduate apprentice, after which he worked for Mather & Platt and ABB (Asea). He joined SPP in 1987 as their youngest ever managing director and has since turned the company into an influential and heavyweight player in the UK. 

On his personal win, he said: “It’s tremendous. I feel humbled that the industry would feel I’m worth of such an honour. It came as a surprise and one that was greatly received.”

Both awards serve as testimony that the industry has rewarded SPP Pumps for its expertise and ability to provide a customised and flexible service in a manner that is widely considered by its clients to be transparent, convenient and responsive.

For further information, contact Claire Comber, Marketing Manager, on 0118 932 5289.

We have placed cookies on your computer to help make this website better. For more information please click here

By continuing to use this site or closing this panel, we'll assume you're OK to continue. You can view our full privacy policy here