JENTON, Zebra and PiP Automation were among the big winners at this year’s Automate UK Awards, announced during the PPMA Show 2026.
The awards were presented during a gala dinner in Birmingham before guests were entertained by singer Heather Small and comedian Frank Skinner.
Jenton triumphed in the Innovative Processing System category, Zebra was presented with the award for Innovative Vision Solution, and PiP Automation was awarded with the Innovative Packaging accolade. Logopak International was named the winner of the Outstanding Customer Service award, while the Innovative Robotics/Automation Solution award went to WMH-UK.
OFS and AB Foods secured the Partnership of the Year award in recognition of their evolution from a supplier-customer relationship into a full joint development partnership spanning AI deployment and group-wide adoption.
Adelphi Group was awarded the Environmental Initiative of the Year. By installing 1,000 solar panels across multiple sites, cutting grid electricity use by 20-40%, Adelphi has exported surplus energy exported back to the grid, in addition to utilising an air-source heat pump, hybrid vehicles, and rainwater harvesting.
Michaela Coxon of Festo was named Apprentice Champion of the Year in recognition of her passion for inspiring and encouraging young people to pursue a career in the wider engineering community and her commitment to creating opportunities for them to do so.
Samuel Larkins of Sycamore was presented with the Advanced Level Apprentice of the Year award for his ownership of a complex engineering project, from design and testing through to installation, commissioning and delivery, with his colleague Hollie Bealing being highly commended in recognition of her specialist welding technical ability and willingness to share her knowledge and train others.
Alexander Stevenson of Domino received the Degree or Higher-Level Apprentice of the Year award, impressing with his leadership and responsibility alongside his technical development, while Luke Flynn of Newtech Intelligent Automation was highly commended.
Finally, the ceremony presented Geoff Tandy of Multipond with the Lifetime Achievement Award. An engineer with over 40 years in the industry, Geoff delivered the UK’s first high-speed mixed vegetable multihead weighing system, among many more installations, and was hailed for creating a culture where learning, development and personal growth are actively encouraged.
Automate UK COO Scott McKenna said, “As always, the Automate UK Awards gala dinner was a spectacular night, and while we were all blown away by Heather’s voice and left rolling around at Frank’s anecdotes, it was the achievements and innovations of our winners that stole the show. Drawing up a short-list from the brilliant nominations we had was a difficult enough task, but going on to select winners was very tough. Every single winner we presented with awards this year has achieved something spectacular, and we’re proud to have had so much talent in the room.”
