Member Article

North East performs at National Construction Awards

Companies from the North East manage to scoop an impressive five awards at the seventh Constructing Excellence National Awards in London recently.

Regional entrants secured awards for categories ranging from Leadership and People Development, to Innovation and SME of the Year.

Catriona Lingwood, chief executive of Constructing Excellence North East, said: “After the hardest few years our industry has ever seen, I’m pleased to see construction, particularly in our region, recognised for the positive work it does. All of the winners can be proud that they have been acknowledged by their peers as being the best of the best.”

Thomas Conneely, winner of the Young Achiever of the Year award, was praised for his active role in setting up Generation 4 Change (G4C) and for his belief that all young professionals should engage with professional bodies- both in and out of their sector; a true role model for those just starting their journey in construction.

Praised for their various training schemes and funded education packages, and for the fact that a third their staff have worked at the organisation for more than ten years because they like it so much, Interserve Construction Ltd were winners of the Leadership and People Development award.

Those involved in The Green Incubator (One Trinity Green) project, South Shields, were recognised in the Sustainability category for the project’s unique social and community offer and for their increased focus on making the building an inspiring and uplifting place to be. Not only that, the project achieved an EPC ‘A’ and a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating and attained the award for the highest scoring Office Building in the UK in 2012.

Sinclair Meadows, South Shields, was chosen as the winner of the Innovation award because of its truly innovative design principles making it the first carbon negative social housing development in the UK.

The judges were very impressed with the culture change the residence had achieved and the impressive data being produced, tracked and analysed by a local university.

The winner of this year’s SME award was McNally & Thompson who were classed by the judges as “truly outstanding” for their articulated and clear aims for the business - something the judges said more organisations should take note of.

Don Ward, chief executive of Constructing Excellence, said: “In these difficult times for the industry, productivity improvement and efficiency have never been more important. I’m delighted to see those who are successful in doing this rewarded for their efforts.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .