Rewarding food industry excellence at Verner Wheelock
Food industry training expert Verner Wheelock has just announced the winners of its annual Excellence Awards. The business is the training company of choice for numerous, well-known food manufacturers and has trained thousands of delegates over the years.
The Verner Wheelock Excellence Awards recognise outstanding delegates and companies dedicated to training and ethical excellence. The winners are selected from a shortlist of nominations by Verner Wheelock trainers, auditors and staff. Outstanding delegates are identified during open and in-house courses throughout the previous year.
There are six categories: Students of the Year in HACCP, Food Safety and Auditing, Company Excellence, Ethical Excellence and Individual Excellence.
The winners are:
- Food Safety Student of the Year 2025: Lauren Fudge, PGL Travel Ltd
- HACCP Student of the Year 2025: Daniel Yeomans, Encirc Ltd
- Auditing Student of the Year 2025: Renata Lipinska, Mizkan Euro Ltd
- Individual Excellence Award 2025: Jack Walker, Hotel Chocolat Group Ltd
- Company Excellence Award 2025: Dr Oetker (UK) Ltd
- Ethical Excellence Award 2025: Greencore
In addition to their trophies and certificates, all winners receive vouchers against future training with Verner Wheelock.
The delegates winning Student of the Year awards all achieved standout results in either RSPH Level 4 Food Safety & Hygiene, RSPH Level 4 HACCP or FDQ Lead Auditor, and demonstrated a passion and aptitude for the subjects during training.
Lauren Fudge, Front of House Manager at PGL Travel, said on receiving her award, “It was such a lovely feeling receiving the phone call to let me know that I had been chosen as Food Safety Student of the Year. It was an absolute joy to attend a wonderfully informative course, with such a friendly, supportive and knowledgeable tutor. I look forward to further training opportunities with Verner Wheelock in the future – an excellent and professional provider.”
Daniel Yeomans at Encirc Ltd, added “Really happy (and very surprised!) that I’ve received an award for my participation in training and the outcome of the HACCP level 4 exam, and have been named “HACCP Student of the Year 2025” by VWA.
Thank you to everyone involved in the training, the team at Verner foster a fantastic learning environment and the results speak for themselves. I’m excited to take this knowledge forward and keep developing in food safety and compliance at Encirc.”
Auditing Student of the Year, Renata Lipinska, Technical Services Officer at Mizkan Euro Ltd, said, “I am absolutely thrilled and incredibly honoured to be selected. It was a complete and very pleasant surprise, and I genuinely did not expect it! My overall experience of the Lead Auditor training, which I successfully completed last year, was outstanding. The tutor was exceptionally knowledgeable, supportive, and engaging, and I really valued the balance between in-depth theoretical learning and practical assessments.”
Technical Manager at Hotel Chocolat, Jack Walker commented, “Thank you very much for this wonderful news. I am truly honoured to be selected for the Individual Excellence Award 2025 and grateful to have been nominated by the Verner Wheelock trainers and team. I have also had the privilege of supporting the development of others, with 61 colleagues from Hotel Chocolat completing Verner Wheelock training during 2025, helping to embed strong technical standards and a positive food safety culture across the business. I really appreciate this recognition and look forward to continuing to support Verner Wheelock’s excellent work.”
Ethical Excellence Award winners, Greencore, were selected due to their commitment to a culture of continuous improvement in ethical trading throughout the organisation. The company has performed strongly in ethical audits and ensures that staff, from new starters to management, have an understanding of the ETI Base Code and ethical practices. Rick Fletcher, Head of Human Rights at Greencore, was delighted to win and commented, “We’re really honoured to receive this award. External ethical audits are a key part of our human rights’ due diligence programme, helping us to keep improving the experience of working at Greencore for our colleagues. The constructive approach Verner Wheelock take in delivering these audits has played an important part in this continuous improvement.”
Dr Oetker (UK) Ltd have demonstrated a commitment to a culture of continuous improvement in food safety throughout the organisation. They have a structured approach to training to ensure that staff, from new starters to management, have an understanding of Food Safety, HACCP and Auditing Skills at an appropriate level to their role. Their strong commitment to training is the reason that they have been awarded the Verner Wheelock Company Excellence Award 2025.