Brakes duo recognised in New Year’s Honours list

Two key figures from Brakes have been recognised in the latest New Year’s Honours list for their roles in launching the government’s programme to provide food boxes to the clinically vulnerable during lockdown. The company’s supply chain and operations director, Alex Mayfield, and lead solution designer, Ricky Sercombe, were awarded MBEs, recognising their pivotal roles in leading the Brakes team that created and launched a service to support the shielding clinically vulnerable with food boxes during the first nationwide lockdown.   

Working with the government, Brakes, in partnership with Bidfood, conceived and launched the service, delivering the first boxes direct to those who most needed them in only nine days. The company was also responsible for food supply to critical institutions such as the NHS and the care sector as they struggled to cope with the difficulties caused by the pandemic, and worked with retailers to provide much needed products to fill empty shelves in the early days of the crisis.

Sercombe said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the e-mail and four weeks later it hasn’t truly sunk in. Colleagues across Brakes worked so hard to make deliveries possible. The greatest thing to see was the feedback our drivers received from all over the country, from those they had delivered boxes to.” 

Mayfield added: "The food box scheme for the vulnerable shielded allowed all of us at Brakes to show our resilience and capabilities at the most difficult time. To be recognised for my contribution in creating the scheme is humbling and amazing."