Potato Review

34 POTATO REVIEW MARCH/APRIL 2021 AWARDS WWW.AGRIMECH.CO.UK +44 (0) 1354 638 2 2 Having the edge in challenging times Stephen Edgley and his son Luke run their farm at Chatteris in Cambridgeshire. They’ve invested in a stitcher, bag placer and weigher to deal with today’s challenges. “Our output is probably up by about 20 percent, and I’m extremely happy with the machinery” Stephen Edgley T HE National Potato Industry Awards and BP2021 will both take place at the usual time in November this year, and entries are now being invited for the award categories. is is likely to come as welcome news to those in the UK potato industry, who have seen numerous events cancelled or postponed over the past year, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. While organisers had brie y considered putting both events back, consensus of NPIA and BP2021 Major industry events set to be live this year. opinion has shown that there is tremendous support from the industry and a keenness for them to proceed in November as planned. e National Potato Industry Awards were launched in 2019, taking place on the rst night of BP2021 in Harrogate. “ e rst event was rather exciting and we were thrilled with the response from industry. It was totally heart-warming to see how it was embraced, both from companies and those nominating people for individual awards,” said Juliet Loiselle, Publisher of Warners Group Publications which organises the now- biannual event and publishes both P otato Review and Carrot Review . “We had a fantastic level of interest, and it was a very well-attended awards ceremony. Kevin Keegan, Liverpool football legend and our guest speaker for the night, wowed the audience with stories from his days of old. We’re hoping to make this year’s another memorable occasion, and subsequently build on what was created in 2019.” Steve Wellbeloved, organiser of BP2021, said a survey of those in the industry received an almost unanimous response. “ is perhaps emphasises the strength of feelings,” he said. “ ere was an extremely strong ‘instruction’ not to move the date, backed by con rmations of intention to exhibit and feedback that attendance by important customers won’t change.” BP2021 will take place on November 24th and 25th, and the NPI Awards will also be held in Harrogate on the night of the 24th, making it easy for show-goers to attend both events. For details of awards categories and how to enter, visit www.potatoreview.com/national- potato-industry-awards. The launch NPIA event in 2019 featured football legend Kevin Keegan as guest speaker and attracted a large attendance.