LONDON - The winners of the British Coatings Federation (BCF) Awards 2017 were announced on Nov. 23 at the annual BCF Awards in Cheshire. Winners across eight categories showcasing brilliance in the coatings industry were named.

Two new awards were added in 2017, the Young Leader of the Year, which was won by Alison Henshaw from Fine Décor Wallcoverings, and the Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, which honored HMG Paints as the SME winner for its Paint the Town Green campaign, and PPG Architectural Coatings in the multi-national category for its Community Engagement Program.

HMG Paints picked up a second award, as the company's apprentice Darren James won the Coatings Training Institute Student of the Year. Also with two award wins was AkzoNobel, which picked up the Customer Service Award for a program that has proved to deliver impressive business improvements, and the Sustainable Innovation Award for the company's new factory in Ashington, its most sustainable plant ever. The Sustainable Innovation category saw an uptake in entries in 2017, also awarding a winner for Sustainable Innovation Supplier, which went to BYK-Gardner Q.C. Instruments for its industry standard instruments designed to simplify digital approval in the automotive industry.

The Excellence in Training award was won by Fujichem Sonneborn, who impressed the judges with an overarching approach to training that focuses on competence over completion. Finally, the most long-standing award, the Coatings Care Overall Best Performer Award, went to Crown Paints in Hull, and the Coatings Care Progress Award went to the Tor Coatings site in Chester-le-Street.