Print.IT Reseller - issue76

PRINTITRESELLER.UK 23 PRINTIT AWARDS The judging process has now concluded and we are delighted to announce the shortlist for the PrintIT Awards 2020 PrintIT Awards 2020: shortlist announced Feedback from our sponsors, guests and the channel at large, has confirmed that making the decision to move the date at this early stage, was the right thing to do, reaffirming our belief that we are extremely lucky to work in this industry and that come early 2021 – we will all be ready to celebrate the PrintIT Awards in style. Industry support The PrintIT Awards would not be possible without the support of organisations in this industry and we are particularly grateful to our brilliant line-up of sponsors who have stood shoulder to shoulder with us over the past months. This includes: n Platinum Sponsor – Ingram Micro n Gold Sponsors – Develop/DSales, HP, Lexmark, VOWWholesale and Westcoast n Category Sponsors – Apogee, Brother, ECI, Epson, ISL Group, Kofax, Kyocera, Pelikan, Sharp, Sindoh and Toshiba n Official Recruitment Partner – The Field Solutions Group n Entertainment Sponsor – Riso n Pre-dinner Drinks Sponsor – HP We are also very proud to count some of the industry’s leading figures on our judging panel and thank them for their time and valued insight. Ian Birch, Managing Director, IBC Group; Eric Crump, Director of Strategic Alliances, Ringdale; Sofia Dahlqvist, Director, 55 Connect Ltd; Louella Fernandes, Director, Quocirca; Darren Lewitt, Former Director, Midwich; Brendan Perring, General Manager, IPIA; Jeff Root, UK Country Manager, Mobi Systems; and Julian Stafford, Former Managing Director, Midshire. And finally, a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to submit an entry in these most difficult circumstances. And it must be said that the quality of entries this year was extremely high – something that made our judges' jobs just a little bit more difficult and prompted much discussion on judging day! www.printitawards.co.uk The PrintIT Awards 2020 were created to celebrate the achievements of our vital, ever- changing technology sector through a comprehensive programme of awards covering all aspects of the industry. When we launched with much aplomb at the beginning of this year, it was inconceivable that we would be moving the goalposts on our well thought-out plans. Fast forward a few months and we all found ourselves working through the most challenging and unpredictable period in all of our working lives. Many companies were forced to very quickly pivot their business to provide essential services remotely or in a socially distanced, safe manner, and I know from talking to many, that the resilience and adaptability that this industry is renowned for has been well and truly put to the test. From our perspective, running our inaugural awards in the midst of a pandemic has been challenging! A number of businesses keen to enter the awards were struggling with their own coronavirus-related challenges, so we were happy to offer some flexibility and extend the entry deadline in some cases, and of course, we had to conduct the judging process via Zoom – which was another first. New date As a business and industry, we are of course naturally optimistic, but optimism does need to come with a level of pragmatism – so with everyone’s safety front of mind, we made the decision some weeks ago to move the awards evening to a new date – Thursday 11 February 2021. We could have hung on and waited for government thinking to change and evolve, as it surely will. Possibly we might still have been able to hold the event in its October format, but we felt that to prevaricate would be unfair on all of our guests and sponsors. Of course, we had to conduct the judging process via Zoom – which was another first Shortlists >> Shortlist Thursday 11 February 2021 The Tower Hotel, London