The lunch! team were celebrating in style last week after its marketing campaign was named the best of the year at the Association of Event Organisers’ prestigious Excellence Awards ceremony on Friday (6 July).

The exhibition industry’s equivalent to the Oscars, over a thousand talented professionals gathered at the Artillery Gardens at the HAC, London, to recognise the standout organisers, venues, suppliers and contractors of 2012.

One of the few AEO awards to be open to both trade and consumer organisers, the hotly-contested Best Marketing Campaign of the Year category received a record 25 entry submissions this year, with lunch! just one of seven events to make the final shortlist.

No stranger to victory having previously won an AEO Best UK Trade Show Award in both 2010 and 2011 (an accolade for which both lunch! and SITS – The Service Desk & IT Support Show were also shortlisted this year), lunch!’s impressive marketing campaign – led by marketing manager Grace Allwright and head of design Roger Denyer – scooped the award ahead of the London Art Fair, Ideal Home Show at Christmas, Labelexpo Europe, Cisco Live Europe, The Energy Event, and The Caravan & Motorhome Show; many of which count their visitor numbers in the tens of thousands!!