Craggs Energy employee wins Young Person of the Year Award at national conference

Craggs Energy has announced that Emily Yates, from Hebden Bridge, is the winner of the UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) Young Person of the Year Award.
Ken Cronin, Emily Yates and Richard Wallace. Picture: Bruce Fitzgerald PhotographyKen Cronin, Emily Yates and Richard Wallace. Picture: Bruce Fitzgerald Photography
Ken Cronin, Emily Yates and Richard Wallace. Picture: Bruce Fitzgerald Photography

The award was launched this year and recognises the achievements of rising stars in the downstream industry.

Ken Cronin, UKIFDA Chief Executive said: “We are so impressed by all Emily has achieved at such a young age, that we felt she deserved recognition for her success.

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"Emily was nominated by her managers and, after reading about her background and achievements, we felt she definitely deserves recognition – especially because as an industry we promote diversity and welcome individuals from every walk of life, and Emily is currently championing diversity in the industry.”

Emily, aged 24 started at Craggs Energy in 2015 as a sales apprentice, since then she has had several roles from customer service to agricultural sales and now she is thriving in her most recent operations role.

Richard Wallace, Managing Director at Craggs Energy said: “We are so proud of Emily; of all she has achieved and all she does on a daily basis to make a difference to people’s lives. For almost 4 years now, Emily has been making emergency and out-of-hours fuel deliveries to agricultural, commercial and domestic customers across Lancashire and Yorkshire.

"She is happy to go out late at night, in extreme weather, and travel to hard-to-reach areas, such as remote Covid testing sites, to ensure places have the fuel needed to serve their local communities. She takes great care of people too, always ensuring our vulnerable customers have a full tank of heating oil and that their heating system is working well.

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"Her approach is always flexible and she will happily drive a range of vehicles to make the deliveries. She is keen to get her HGV and ADR licence – and we are eager to support her with this as she becomes a fully-fledged tanker driver.”

Emily said: “I’m over the moon to have won the Young Person of the Year Award! I love my job and it’s great to know that what I do is appreciated and is helping people.

"I’m excited for the future and cannot wait to get started with studying for my HGV licence and making deliveries on tankers as well as on 4x4s. There is no reason women can’t join the operations side of this industry and make deliveries – and I hope that soon more women will join the sector.”