The preparations for the TTJ Awards 2003 are under way and subscribers to TTJ and ttjonline.com will soon get their chance to vote for the companies they think should win.

This year TTJ has hired the services of Electoral Reform Services (ERS), the trading arm of the Electoral Reform Society, to undertake the telephone canvassing for votes.

ERS is an independent company used extensively to manage and monitor ballots and awards voting by businesses and other organisations. Its role is to ensure the voting process is open, transparent and impartial and its canvassers will be phoning TTJ subscribers in the coming weeks.

Also this year, TTJ and ttjonline subscribers will be able to vote for companies online at www.erbs.co.uk/awards/ttj.htm. This voting site is set to go live this week and is also controlled and monitored by ERS.

Awards categories

The six categories for the TTJ Awards which are voted for by subscribers are Hardwood Trader of the Year, Softwood Trader of the Year, Panels Trader of the Year, General Trader of the Year, Small Timber Business of the Year and Plywood Trader of the Year.

Subscribers are asked to vote for the company which in their view provides the best overall service and the company which amasses most votes overall (and of course some companies may be voted for in a range of categories) will win the coveted TTJ Timber Trader of the Year.

&#8220The aim of the Trainee Award is to highlight the importance of training and to underline the good work in the field that is increaingly being done across the industry”

TTJ editor Mike Jeffree

In addition, the TTJ Awards include two categories which are judged by independent panels. These are the Excellence in Marketing Award and the Trainee of the Year Award.

Celebrating training

The latter is another innovation for 2003. The Trainee Award is being run in association with the Institute of Wood Science and companies are asked to nominate their trainees, detailing why they think they should win based on criteria such as commitment, timber and timber industry knowledge and achievement on training courses. Full details and entry forms for the Trainee Award will be sent out with the TTJ shortly.

“The aim of the Trainee Award is to highlight the importance of training and to underline the good work in the field that is increasingly being done across theindustry,” said TTJ editor Mike Jeffree.

The Awards ceremony itself will take place at the Savoy Hotel in London on Thursday September 11 and tickets can be reserved now by calling Alex Gee on 01732 470054 or e-mailing Alex at agee@wilmington.co.uk.

Previous guest speakers and Awards presenters have included Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Michael Portillo, Roy Hattersley, David Gower and Jeremy Paxman. This year’s speaker has yet to be announced but, said Mike Jeffree, will be of the same high calibre.

“The TTJ Awards is the major opportunity of the year to celebrate the professional job being done by the UK timber trade and to recognise good service in the industry,” he said. “The previous events have been a great success and with the innovations we are undertaking this year, we intend this year’s Awards to be the best yet.”