The World Mail Awards were conceived as a result of discussions at the internationally recognised World Mail & Express conferences – the unique forum for industry leaders and key decision makers to discuss strategy.
As the industry developed and evolved much debate had been focused on ways of encouraging and publicising best practice within the mail industry worldwide; out of this grew the concept of the World Mail Awards, which were formally launched in 2000.
The initial awards consisted of four categories – Internet Commerce, Innovation, Customer Service and Airline of the Year. However, such was the response to these awards in their first year that the number of categories was increased to six in 2001 and then to eight in 2002.
In 2003 a further two categories were launched to promote increasingly important issues within the industry. Industry Leadership recognises individuals or organisations for significant advancements in the postal sector and the Technology Award acknowledges the use of innovative technological solutions for competitive advantage.
2004 saw the launch of the Transformation Award, honouring a postal administration which has transformed itself deeply and broadly with a real impact as measured by the outcome, while in 2005 a further award was added to recognise best practice in terms of delivering mail quality.
In 2006, new awards for Corporate Social Responsibility and People Management were included and 2007 saw a total of eleven categories recognised with the addition of the new Retail Project award.
With the exception of the Industry Leadership Award, application, or nomination, for an award is open to any postal operator or service provider worldwide, whether public or private, small or large. All applications are reviewed by a prestigious panel of judges and, from a shortlist of entries, a winner in each category is finally declared.
Winners are announced at a presentation ceremony held in conjunction with the annual World Mail & Express Europe conference where awards are presented by sponsoring organisations.
The Awards are highly respected and sought after, rewarding as they do, the pursuit of excellence. Now in the 11th year, they are rapidly becoming the Oscars™ of the postal industry.
Each award is judged by a global panel of experts whose deliberations are independent of the organisers and sponsors. It is the responsibility of each award panel, under the chairmanship of a distinguished industry leader, to ensure that all applications or nominations meet the criteria of the award in question. Judges of the World Mail Awards have included: