Newcastle Wins Inagural W.J Blanchard Shield

24 Sep, 2015

CoolDrive Newcastle store has been named ‘CoolDrive Branch of the Year’ and in doing so has won the inaugural W.J Blanchard Shield, honouring  the company’s founder.

Newcastle Branch Manager Shayne Edmonds accepted the W.J Blanchard Shield from company patriarch John Blanchard senior, at the annual Branch Manager’s Awards Dinner in Melbourne late last month.

Held at the Rendezvous Hotel, the Awards were attended by 60 people, a mix of branch managers and their partners, CoolDrive staff and key suppliers, and capped off CoolDrive Distribution’s annual Branch Manager’s Conference.

CoolDrive’s annual Branch Manager’s Awards don’t just focus on economic performance, according to Marketing Manager Tim Blanchard.

“Our Awards criteria is broad … all elements in running a branch are important in making the assessment.

“Certainly financial performance is but it’s just one factor. We also look at store presentation, customer service, customer feedback, staff well being and general brand representation.

“Newcastle was very strong in all of those areas, as well as achieving budget 18 months in a row, an impressive effort in a region having a tough time with its dependency on the mining sector.”

Runners up to Newcastle were the Alexandria (Sydney) and Melbourne branches, which each received an Outstanding Achievement Award.

The W.J Blanchard Shield will now be awarded annually by CoolDrive Distribution to recognise outstanding branch performance.