Supplier Awards 2026: Outstanding Supplier Personality Award – Paul Anderson

With a career spanning 35 years, Paul Anderson has built a reputation as one of the most respected leaders in the industry.

He has not only spearheaded Meiko UK’s strategy for the past decade to become what customers say is the “first brand considered” when purchasing warewash products, he also works to ensure sustainability is at the top of industry conversation and that new talent is brought through into the catering equipment trade.

Sector colleagues say that he consistently goes beyond the role of supplier, acting as a genuine partner to the businesses he works with. He is trusted for his integrity and reliability and a thoughtful, solution-led approach, always taking the time to understand operational challenges and respond with practical support.

Anderson entered the sector in 1991 as sales manager at Fordham Fine Foods before moving onto Lockhart Catering Equipment, where he swiftly rose through the ranks to director level, taking in stints at Gram/Hoshizaki and Rational.

His current role as managing director at Meiko UK was something of a homecoming for him, having served as a regional sales manager there between 1999 and 2002. Anderson had big shoes to fill upon his return in the top job in 2017, taking over from Bill Downie’s 24-year tenure, but he has ensured the manufacturer has gone from strength to strength.

His campaigning has helped to keep environmental issues on the agenda, via Meiko’s regular sustainability reports, a decarbonisation focus and a drive to improve warewasher efficiency and durability. He also oversees Meiko UK’s drive towards becoming carbon neutral through good practice at its Slough headquarters and storage facilities, as well engineering support, achieving a 94% first-time-fix rate.

Anderson is the linchpin behind his company’s support for good causes inside and outside of the industry, including the Clink, the Fire Fighters Charity, Against Breast Cancer and Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital. He also volunteered to join what was the CESA (Catering Equipment Suppliers Association) council in 2017 and becoming the chair of the trade body, which then rebranded as the Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA), between 2022 and 2024.

John Cunningham, chief executive of the FEA, described Anderson as “the complete professional”. He added: “When I joined the FEA he was chairman, and he spent that first year quietly steering me with calm, thoughtful guidance. Paul has a gentle way of leading – never loud, always steady and always choosing exactly the right words. He truly is Mr Integrity, which is exactly what you need when chairing the industry’s largest association.

“Behind that calm exterior is a sharp business mind. Paul knows how to keep a company on course, and Meiko’s position as a major force in the UK warewashing sector owes a great deal to his leadership.

“What many don’t see is his generosity. Even now in his role as FEA past-chair he continues to give his time freely. The industry will never fully realise how many panels, boards and working groups he has chaired or supported over the years – always unpaid, always for the good of the sector.”

Anderson’s FEA chair successor, Emma Brooks, managing director of Quintex, added: “You can see his passion and love for the industry shines through. He has given so much of his time to the FEA to support the wider industry. In his role as immediate past chair he still has a strong voice and presence at board and council meetings, all the time thinking how he can support the wider team and industry.”

Cunningham concluded: “Our industry owes him a huge debt of gratitude.”