IAPA judges’ meeting this week

The judges for the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) 2022 will meet later this week to discuss the entries and draw up the shortlist.

Formed of five industry experts, the independent panel of judges will consider a record number of entries this year, across 13 categories, ahead of the ceremony on 10 March, in London, UK.

The shortlist will be decided from more than 160 entries at the meeting on Thursday (13 January), and is set to be announced early next week.

Euan Youdale, non-voting chairman of the judges and editor of Access International, which co-organises the event with IPAF, thanked the judges for their hard work in assessing all the entries. “It is no easy feat to consider so many entries, as the judges are now doing, leading up to Thursday’s meeting. AI and IPAF would like to thank them all for agreeing to take part and dedicating so much time to this important process. Their experience and knowledge of the industry is of great value to the IAPAs, which celebrates best practice in our fast-evolving industry.”

The judges:

Nico Krekeler

Nico Krekeler, head of design and development, Ruthmann Holdings, and chairman of the board of directors, Ruthmann Italia.

Michel Petitjean

Michel Petitjean, secretary general of the European Rental Association (ERA)

Andy Studdert

Andy Studdert, independent corporate director and past president of IPAF. Formerly CEO of NES Rentals, which was acquired by United Rentals in 2017.

Jonathan Till

Jonathan Till, owner the UK’s largest independent access equipment rental company GTAccess, and member of the IPAF UK Country Council.

Paolo Pianigiani

Paolo Pianigiani. As commercial director at Italy-based Imer Group, Pianigiani  headed up the company’s scissor and spider lift designs and established branches for the group in a number of countries.

Non-voting chair of the judging panel: Euan Youdale, editor, Access International. 

The IAPAs take place on the same day as the IPAF Summit. For more details of this day-long conference, covering the latest topics in the industry, be sure to visit the website.