AUSTRALIA. The Australian Airports Association (AAA) Retail & Commercial Forum honoured seven individuals and companies for their contribution to the industry at a glittering awards night at the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane on Tuesday.
The awards were among the highlights from day one of the Forum, which runs from 17-19 July, co-organised by the AAA, The Mercurius Group and The Moodie Davitt Report. They were presented by AAA CEO James Goodwin and Sushanta Das, Founder of data analytics company tRetailLabs, which sponsored the awards programme.
Wines on the night were supplied in partnership with Moët Hennessy Travel Retail. Conference highlights and photos will follow shortly.
The award for Team Member – Back of House went to SSP Hobart Airport Operations Manager Kate Chessels. She was credited with achieving a sharp increase in passenger spend rate across all the F&B outlets at the airport since joining the team during COVID. As she could not attend, her award was accepted by SSP Hobart Airport Head Chef Luke Murray.
The award for Team Member – Customer Facing went to Colleen Stafford, Wilson Parking Car Park Manager at Gold Coast Airport. She was singled out for finding not only physical space solutions but also commercial solutions to maintain and even improve car parking yield for both her own company and for Gold Coast Airport.
Willow & Goose Founder Jason Wilson won the Supplier of the Year award. He was nominated by Emirates Leisure Retail, for which his company is a key wine supplier and partner. The company also contributes to ELR’s 100 Miles locally sourced kitchen concept at Adelaide Airport.
An important part of this company’s story is that every bottle of wine sold in the ELR network contributes to global Clean Water Charity OpBlue, which provides communities in developing countries with access to safe and sustainable clean water solutions. The charity, established by Wilson, supplies safe water access to over 800,000 people and has launched two new charitable streams – OpEducation and OpHealth – to complement its work. OpBlue even helped to open a school in Nairobi, Kenya, this year.
Concessionaire of the Year went to WHSmith Travel, which was nominated by a number of its airport partners. The award was collected by Managing Director APAC Carl Hargrave.
One airport company said that WHSmith “has been highly effective in growing category sales in the news, books convenience and technology categories.”
Another said that its “proactiveness and willingness to invest during COVID saw it deliver new store fit-outs and despite ongoing challenges with supply chain and escalating fit-out costs, these stores were executed at a very high standard.”
Airport of the Year went to Queensland Airports Ltd (Gold Coast), nominated by the airport’s tenants, who recognised the strength of partnership provided by this company.
Comments from concessionaire partners included the following: “They listen to what we have to say, and at all times remain focused on what is best overall for the airport and its customers.
“Not being a capital city airport could leave some to think that the commercial arrangements are less onerous on tenants. The reality is on a per passenger basis they are every bit as competitive as the capital city contracts. The difference simply is that in this case there is a genuine collaboration. Negotiations are commercial but they are also very clear and concise on delivering for all concerned.” General Manager – Commercial Revenue Isabelle Yates accepted the award on the airport’s behalf.
Two career achievement awards recognised excellence and industry service over many years.
One went to Bob McFadyen, a pioneering figure in airport commercial activities in Australia. He worked for Sydney Airport, Budapest Airport and later Heinemann Australia, helping the company enter the regional market.
As part of the Heinemann Australia Board, he also helped steer the company through COVID. As McFadyen is away in Europe, Heinemann Australia Managing Director George Tsoukalas accepted the award on his behalf.
The second award for career achievement went to Perth Airport Chief Commercial Officer Rebecca Cook. In her 15 years with the company (22 in the industry), the judges said, she has shown “resilience, flexibility, endurance and capability”. She has led terminal and retail expansions, negotiated big contracts and managed ground transport as well as retail.
*More from the AAA Retail & Commercial Forum will follow. ✈
