McDonald's National Operations & Technology Supplier Conference is an annual event celebrating one of the world’s biggest QSRs, along with the businesses and service providers that enable it to maintain its internationally high standards of quality here in the UK. At Airedale, we’re extremely proud to be one of those businesses, and we’re especially proud to say that our Network Catering engineers were honoured not once, but twice at the 2026 conference for their excellent service and maintenance works.

Service Provider of the Year Award

Network received the highly coveted “Service Provider of the Year” award, recognising the team's incredible support to a range of McDonald’s sites. During the awards, McDonald's specifically referenced the quality and consistency of Network’s core service delivery, alongside the additional value provided through training, collaboration with franchisees, and close working relationships with other suppliers.

In a speech, the McDonald's representative said, “Network have completed over 20,000 calls for the McDonald's system in 2025. Going from strength to strength, continuing to grow and expand their business. This company has installed its own McDonald's kitchen at its national training centre to train McDonald's staff, and this has been used this year to train engineers nationwide for our service network. This company manages to be national but local at the same time.”

Network Founder Tim Church said: “Winning Service Provider of the Year is a fantastic achievement for our whole team – engineers and office staff alike. We work hard to support McDonald's and the franchisees every day as one part of the three-legged stool, and it is particularly rewarding to see our wider contribution recognised.”

Airedale’s QSR Service & Maintenance Offering

At Airedale, we champion strong service and maintenance practices for all commercial kitchens. That said, for a multi-site QSR with global brand recognition like McDonald’s, operational resilience from a strong service partner is especially crucial.

From ensuring equipment is in order for a new product drop to reactive repair services that keep core menu items available, both planned and emergency maintenance are integral to long-lasting success in the QSR industry. As Steve Cooper, our Director of International Development, says: “In a market defined by speed and consumer expectations, every moment of downtime is not just a missed sale, it’s a tangible erosion of brand trust and market share. Resilience is no longer a strategic goal; it's the operational reality of survival.”

Request a free copy of our whitepaper, ‘Building Resilience in UK QSR Operations: Lessons From the Field’, to discover the engineering expertise and experience that allowed us to achieve this prestigious award, and see how our knowledge could be applied to services for your QSR too.

James Richardson: Apprentice of the Year

In addition, James Richardson, a Network apprentice engineer, was named Apprentice of the Year, reflecting his progress, commitment and professionalism throughout his apprenticeship.

As the award was given, the spokesperson said, “Recommended by franchisee Jane Blackwell, this apprentice has shown exceptional attitude and commitment from day one. He’s quickly become an integral part of Network’s South Wales team and is proving to be a future star as a service engineer. His dedication and potential truly embody what this award represents.”

Neil Hendry, Regional Service Manager at Network and James’s line manager, commented: “James has been exceptional throughout his apprenticeship. Attitude is everything in our role, and the way he approaches each job and the preparation he puts in is truly inspirational.”

Training as a Commercial Kitchen Engineer with Airedale

At Airedale, it’s important for us to not only hire the very best commercial catering engineers, but to help nurture the next generation of engineering excellence in our industry. That’s why we’ve established our Airedale Academy, a training school where even more apprentice catering engineers like James can excel. Could you be an award-winning apprentice catering engineer with us, too? Discover our academy courses today.


Interested in working with Airedale? Contact us to learn more about how we can fulfil the unique needs of your commercial kitchen, or explore our blog page for expert advice.