FASTSIGNS®, the signage, graphics and visual communications franchisor, has recognised its brightest stars at an awards evening attended by 80 guests during its annual convention.

Franchisees and their staff, head office employees and key suppliers from around the UK gathered to celebrate individuals and businesses that have performed exceptionally over the past 12 months. The aim of the event is to congratulate high achievers while sharing inspiring success stories across the organisation.

The runaway winners this year were father and son partnership, Chris and Andy Simpson, who picked up four awards for their Leeds franchise. They won the overall Sales Achievement Award as well as the Sales Improvement, Project of the Year and Marketing Awards.

Carolyn and David Riddell of the Gloucester franchise won the coveted Franchise Partner of the Year Award. And a second Sales Improvement Award went to Richard Wedgwood from the Manchester franchise.

Additional franchisee finalists included Jenny Boreham of Chelmsford and Mark Phelps of Kingston Upon Thames who received second and third place respectively in the Sales Achievement category.

Three franchise employees received special recognition. Matthew Ball from the Sheffield franchise was named Employee of the Year, with Melanie Martinez of Crawley and Danny Wynn of Birmingham reaching the final stage of judging.

The support of key suppliers was also noted, with Applelec Sign Components awarded the Supplier of the Year accolade. Runners up in this category were vinyl & digital media provider Metamark UK and sign & display materials supplier PaperlinX.

The UK Managing Director of FASTSIGNS, Garth Allison, says that 2013 has been an exceptional year:

“We have seen some astonishing success this year, with many of the franchises performing better than ever. Our franchisee winners have worked intelligently to find new ways to grow their businesses, and have consistently gone the extra mile to keep their customers happy. But they couldn’t do it without the ongoing support of employees and suppliers, which is why we believe it is so important to recognise them as well. The awards ceremony is always the highlight of our annual convention, but this year it was especially uplifting and energising.”