2016 Winners

Winner: Jacqueline O'Donovan - O'Donovan Waste Disposal

Jacqueline is a leader and her enthusiasm resonates throughout the family business, the built environment and the wider community. Her career has taught her that you never stop learning and she is committed to excellence and continuous improvement.  She believes that staff development is the cornerstone of a successful business and under her direction O’Donovan’s has become one of the capitals leading waste management companies.  A pioneer for health & safety, Jacqueline has invested herself in the company and in the safety of all vulnerable road users. Read more here

Highly Commended: Angela Steele - O-W-E CIC

Angela is determined to address under-representation of women in the sector.  She set out to bridge the gap between the development of women as excellent trades’ people and the resources to accelerate their impact.  She secured initial funding to set up a Community Investment Company – Opportunities-With-Experience and has developed a multi-faceted programme to engage and support learners. Read more here

Winner: Willmott Dixon

Willmott Dixon knows from its own research that supporting and leaving an apprentice with a good impression generates high employee retention and a good return on investment.  Their ‘wrap-around’ approach aims to broaden the attractiveness of the industry and supports a wider agenda for social improvement.  From early engagement with schools to generous salaries and support for career progression, they understand that providing an apprentice with a ‘good start’ helps to protect the future of their business. Read more here

Highly Commended: Darke & Taylor Ltd

For Darke & Taylor, apprenticeships are the cornerstone of their business. They recognise that sustainable success is about developing their people and serious investment into resources is required to address the skills shortage in the electrical industry.  They are committed to sustaining a competent workforce – particularly challenging in an industry where it’s hard to keep up with technology and Health & Safety is a key concern. Read more here

Winner: Land Rover BAR Americas Cup HQ & Facilities building - HGP Architects Ltd

Home of Land Rover BAR Racing, this project is a showcase for the collaboration of sport, innovation and sustainability. An open procurement approach led the team to focus on the outcome and BIM played a major role in enabling design and construction teams to collaborate and progress at speed. Complicated offsite elements fitted perfectly at installation, contractors worked in parallel instead of traditional sequencing and open dialogue achieved decisions in real time.  BIM interoperability issues did not limit the opportunity because they had a great team spirit and a common goal. Read more here

Winner: Peabody Trust - Property Services 

Peabody Trust Property Services has taken a strategic partnering approach because it delivers excellent service and best value for their residents.  Setting out clear objectives, Peabody has entered into four, 10 year, single contractor partnerships and developed collaborative teams that really care about what they are doing.  Their considered move into longer-term relationships is providing Peabody and its supply chain with both quantifiable and intangible benefits, and complaints from residents have “dropped like a stone”. Read more here

Winner - Safety 2015 and Beyond - O'Donovan Waste Disposal

O’Donovan’s commitment to Health & Safety is ingrained in the company ethos and in 2015 they not only invested huge resource into training their own team but made a huge contribution to the safety of all road users.  Pioneers in fleet safety and CLOCS Champion, O’Donovan have worked closely with vehicle manufacturers to design and pilot new lorries to keep cyclists safe on the roads. O’Donovan continually set new standards for health & safety best practice and a great example for others to follow. Read more here

Winner - Hursley Wet Waste Processing Facility - R&W Civil Engineering

Hursley Wet Waste Processing Facility was initially developed by R&W Civil Engineering to deal with road sweepings and gulley waste from Hampshire County Council Highways.  New EU regulations preventing such wet waste going to landfill inspired the R&W team to seek a radical new approach to sustainable waste management.  The ‘closed loop’ solution means gully waste now comes off the council highways, is processed locally, with both the solid material and the purified water being reused on the network.  Result:  huge resource efficiencies; mega cost savings and a sustainable model to emulate. Read more here

Winner: Commercial Directors' Forum - Network Rail

Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects division embarked on a programme to transform supplier relations. The crucible for driving this change was the establishment of the National Commercial Directors’ Forum comprising key suppliers and industry stakeholders. The Forum brings together key influencers and decision-makers in an environment of openness and trust.  Innovative and leading-edge thinking around commercial issues affecting the industry has already delivered outstanding results. No other client organisation has pushed the collaboration agenda directly with its supply chain more than Network Rail. Read more here

Highly Commended: M4 Elevated Strengthening - Osborne

Strengthening of the M4 Elevated motorway section to remove the risk of significant weight restrictions in the future has been achieved through a three phase programme over two years – working at night.  The judging panel was impressed by the depth of behavioural change achieved through the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach developed by the framework to foster collaborative working. Read more here

Winner: Lift & Engineering Services Ltd

Lift and Engineering Services has a strategy for developing a diverse workforce at the very core of their business. They recognise that the key to great customer service and business growth is held by staff who are enabled and developed to the best of their ability.  This approach, and the structure to support, gives them scope to increase capacity through the employment of staff with no previous construction industry experience but a ‘can do’ attitude.Read more here

 Winner: Clarkson Alliance

Clarkson Alliance have shown clear vision in their approach to drive a collaborative team to deliver outstanding customer satisfaction. From the outset they find out what is really important to the client and develop and agree clear objectives. Staged reviews ensure project teams are on track, and face-to-face meetings are conducted every six months with each and every customer. They always tell their customers what they have done with their feedback, and they clearly use the outcomes to motivate the internal team and drive continuous improvement. Read more here

Winner: The Allen Building, Downview Primary School, West Sussex - Osborne Limited

Downview Primary School invested £3.6 million to provide 12 new classrooms, breakout areas, and extensions to the hall and reception. The team made exceptional efforts to understand and accommodate the clients’ expectations and the needs of the school.  Causing minimum disruption for 55 weeks they blended into the daily life of the school.  Achieving 99% client satisfaction post completion - the school named the Allen Building in recognition of senior site manager, Allen Greenslade who has succeeded in creating a really positive image for construction in the local community. Read more here

Winner: Broomhill Sands and Coastal Defence Scheme - Team Van Oord

The £30M Broomhill Sands Coastal Defence Scheme directly protects 1,388 homes and over 100 businesses.  The success of the project is down to clear leadership and a positive team culture.  Innovations to maximise efficiency and sustainability, and to keep the workforce and beach users safe, have generated excellent outcomes. With £8.9 million of efficiencies identified during construction, the team were able to extend the programme to include additional emergency and planned works, saving the Environment Agency a further £1.6 million in beach maintenance. Read more here

Winner: Cheesmur Building Contractors

Rescued through a management buyout, Cheesmur have achieved impressive growth with an increase in turnover of £8 million in five years.  The key to their success is an ethos of collaborative and non-adversarial working with their clients and consultants.  Through improved processes, a highly motivated team, a pro-active and approachable bank, a committed supply chain and long hours of hard work - impressive results have been achieved. Celebrating 80 years, Cheesmur are a good local employer, supporting their community and maintaining their mission to deliver “traditional values in a changing world”. Read more here

Winner: Elmsbrook, North West Bicester - A2 Dominion

North West Bicester is a pioneering and sustainable new community.  As UK’s first Eco Town, its core aim is to make it easy, attractive and affordable for people to live healthy, sustainable lifestyles without compromising the needs of future generations. Elmsbrook, the first phase of North West Bicester, provides 393 highly energy efficient homes and a local centre, creating the UK’s first true zero carbon community. Its commercial approach to sustainability provides for 30% affordable housing and an attractive business proposition for developers. Read more here

Sponsored by:Winner: Leisure Energy Sustainable Savings - Leisure Energy

Leisure energy has, through years of research, identified a proven model using innovative technologies to reduce energy costs in leisure centres by 50%, with an average payback on capital investments achieved between two and five years. They have solutions that positively improve the user experience and significantly reduce carbon emissions. Leisure Energy has achieved annual savings of £70,000 for one north London Leisure centre, and can clearly demonstrate the return on investment of capital improvements modelled against maintenance and operational costs. Read more here

Winner: Katy Murray - Directline Structures Ltd

Katy Murray joined the family design & build business, Directline Structures, and has already made an outstanding difference to the company.  Her architectural vision, talent and presentation skills have brought a new dimension to the company’s ability to win work. In the role of designer and site manager, Katy showed impressive levels of collaborative working and demonstrated how the dual role delivered value to the client and other stakeholders.  Katy sees the bigger picture – there’s no doubt she will be an effective champion for architect-led design and build. Read more here