This year’s UKMHA Archies was held at the Hilton Metropole on Saturday the 14th September. This prestigious awards ceremony is named after Archimedes, the father of engineering, and the award statuette is a hand-cast Archie. The lifetime achievement award is the highest individual honour bestowed by UKMHA. It is presented to an individual who has made a significant and outstanding contribution to the material handling industry. This year Mike Barton, Managing Director of B&B Attachments took home this accolade.
Mike has served the field of material handling with distinction since 1965. Starting his working career as a 16-year-old Apprentice with Lansing Bagnall, he completed a five-year engineering apprenticeship, covering all aspects of product design, development and manufacture. It was here where Mike began specifying trucks and attachments for applications, which was later to become his specialism. It was July 1981, Mike joined the newly formed B&B Attachments, where his specialist skill set has grown and developed over the years taking the company from a small, start-up business, to one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of forklift truck attachments it is known today.
Mike has touched not only companies, but individuals both old and new to the industry with his experience and innovative methods. His wealth of application knowledge and industry experience has allowed Mike to solve numerous, sometimes challenging, material handling problems over the years. Many turn to Mike for his guidance and wise council, when they are faced with an unusual or specialist attachment application query, from handling specialist blocks of coca in the food industry to specialist attachments required to assist building the London Velodrome.
Mike comments, “I feel supremely humbled and honoured to receive this award from the UKMHA. This industry has always fascinated me, ever since I was a boy. When I started out, I surrounded myself with people who were experts in their field and absorbed it all like a sponge. Today, I’m still learning with every opportunity. I’ve had the pleasure of working with some fantastic people over my career and I’ve enjoyed every second.”
Mike has devoted his entire career to the advancement of the industry. He has demonstrated throughout his life a remarkable ability to build networks and inspire people. With almost 60 years of experience in the industry, Mike is still as committed as ever to developing himself and his specialist field, further.
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