AN EDINBURGH project manager has won a top industry accolade at a prestigious national awards ceremony in London. Mark Foley, of CALA Homes (East) took home the esteemed “Multi-Storey Building” award after representing Scotland at the National House Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job Supreme Awards, at the Park
Ibstock Brick has been announced as a winner in the category of Most Ethical / Sustainable Manufacturer of the Year at the 2019 at the Made in the Midlands Awards. The awards, coordinated by leading business publisher, INSIDER Media, took place in Birmingham on May 2nd 2019. They celebrate excellence
A special award has been handed to a north-east housebuilder based in Banchory for its exceptional customer service. Bancon Homes has been presented with the Outstanding Customer Service award by In House Research, which carries out customer surveys. “It’s a fantastic achievement to have been awarded the Outstanding Customer Service Award.
KAREN Ryan who spent 15 years of her career at Stepnell has been crowned Mentor of the Year at an annual award ceremony which recognises the very best in construction excellence within the West Midlands. The award recognises an individual who has shown a commitment to developing the future leaders
KDM Hire has been announced as a Winner in the 2019 Executive Hire Show Passionate Hirer Awards, which took place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The company was nominated in the Outstanding Multi-Depot Hire Company category, from no fewer than 750 outlets throughout the UK and Ireland that members
Hull-based TLJ Security Systems’ electrical engineering apprentice, Lewis Wankiewicz, has won two awards at the Hull Training and Adult Education (HTAE) Awards 2018. The event, held at Hull’s Guildhall on the 9th of November, was a celebration of the achievements of apprentices, learners and businesses across the Hull and East
The 2018 On the Tools Training Excellence Award has been awarded to Dulux Academy. The awards, which celebrate and reward construction workers, subcontractors, tools and equipment manufacturers and construction companies from across the UK, were held at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham. All entries for the awards are independently judged by
ECS Engineering Services has won a prestigious Environment Agency Health and Safety Award for the way it designed and implemented critical safety systems into a project to refurbish the extensive steelwork at Colwick Sluice on the River Trent. As a vital part of the Nottingham area’s flood control infrastructure, Colwick
The Institute of Chartered Foresters is pleased to announce the four recipients of the 2018 Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award. The Institute’s Student members Tom Haynes and Michael Wilson from the University of Cumbria were selected among talented competition as the United Kingdom applicants, while Daniel Root from the
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
AN EDINBURGH project manager has won a top industry accolade at a prestigious national awards ceremony in London. Mark Foley, of CALA Homes (East) took home the esteemed “Multi-Storey Building” award after representing Scotland at the National House Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job Supreme Awards, at the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster. This year’s judging process began with the assessment of thousands of site and project managers from across the UK and culminated in only four Supreme Award winners. Mark, 49, faced tough competition from projects in York, Poole and London but his work on the UNESCO-accredited site, The Crescent at Donaldson’s, stood out against his competitors. This success follows Mark’s win in the qualifying heats of the NHBC ‘Pride in the Job’ Quality Awards in July and Regional Awards in October 2019, after impressing a team of inspectors during a series of rigorous and unscheduled visits to the development. As well as undergoing spot checks of the day-to-day running of their sites, each Site Manager is assessed across 37 different areas of site management, including technical knowledge, quality and consistency. Mark is CALA’s most decorated project manager with 13 Pride in the Job awards, alongside nine Seal of Excellences and two regional awards. He said: “Delivering excellent quality for customers is what most site teams strive for and for our work at The Crescent to be recognised by the NHBC at the Supreme Awards is a real privilege and without doubt, the highlight of my career. “Having the opportunity to work on such a prestigious site, with this level of architectural design, makes it all the more exciting. “While my name is on the award, I want to make sure that it is appreciated how much of a team effort this is, and it couldn’t have been achieved without the amazing team I have working alongside me.” “I was immensely proud of the whole team at the Regional awards, but to make it to the Supreme Awards, and come out victorious, is a dream come true.” Kevin Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer of CALA Homes, said: “The Pride in the Job awards recognise the industry’s best site managers and the exceptional contribution they make in creating homes of outstanding quality. “The Supreme Award is the very highest accolade that a site manager can receive and we are extremely proud of Mark for this fantastic achievement. “This award doesn’t just represent success for Mark, however, but for the entire team at CALA Homes East, who all play a vital role in ensuring that this unique and complex architectural design is delivered safely and to the highest quality standards for not only our customers, but also the wider Edinburgh community, on what is a very important site for the City.” Steve Wood, NHBC Chief Executive, said: “Through Pride in the Job, NHBC has been celebrating the best of the best in house building for almost 40 years. “There is no doubt that these awards have been instrumental in driving up the quality of new homes and results show that Pride in the Job winning sites have higher levels of customer satisfaction. “The final stage of this competition is tough, so to earn the highest accolade of Supreme winner a site manager must have successfully managed a wide range of competing demands and challenges. “Their determination and success in achieving excellence deserves recognition. More importantly, site managers like Mark are creating high quality outstanding homes that their customers can have confidence in – they are building the future. Congratulations Mark.” Designed by architect, Richard Murphy OBE, The Crescent mirrors the curve of the traditional New Town homes it finds itself inspired by. Situated in the tranquil grounds of the iconic Donaldson’s estate, homes at The Crescent offer the convenience of capital living with an authentic rural feel with expansive views of the Pentland Hills. The final remaining homes in the development’s west wing have not long been available and offer a range of sizes – from one-bedroom apartments to a deluxe penthouse – to cater for any potential buyers from £595,000 – £1,750,000. For more information, or to register interest in the Crescent development visit: www.cala.co.uk/the-crescent or call 0131 341 2667.
Ibstock Brick has been announced as a winner in the category of Most Ethical / Sustainable Manufacturer of the Year at the 2019 at the Made in the Midlands Awards. The awards, coordinated by leading business publisher, INSIDER Media, took place in Birmingham on May 2nd 2019. They celebrate excellence and achievement from businesses based in the Midlands region. Ibstock was recognised for its commitment – through its products and processes – to ‘forging a more sustainable future for the company and region’. The judges were impressed by Ibstock’s demonstration of its social and environmental concerns – and the way this has become part of its wider business strategy. As the UK’s leading brick manufacturer, Ibstock Brick is proud to be at forefront of responsible manufacturing – both in the Midlands region and elsewhere in the UK. Sustained investments in energy efficient plant, clean technologies and performance improvements are coupled strong commitment to skills-building and community engagement. The judges cited the company’s unique People First approach to sustainability – commenting that this methodology set Ibstock apart from the other shortlisted businesses. As winner of the Most Ethical / Sustainable Manufacturer of the Year category, the Ibstock team will take part in the INSIDER Media National Finals in June 2020. Commenting on the Made in the Midlands award win, Michael McGowan, said: “This is the latest in a long line of high-profile award wins that recognise the positive impacts we are making in terms of sustainability and we are absolutely delighted to receive it. Our win is very much testament to the hard work of our colleagues across the business. Sustainability is embedded within our business culture and we could not be prouder to lead the way both in the Midlands and further afield.” Ibstock Brick was also shortlisted in the category of Manufacturer of the Year (Over £25M).
A special award has been handed to a north-east housebuilder based in Banchory for its exceptional customer service. Bancon Homes has been presented with the Outstanding Customer Service award by In House Research, which carries out customer surveys. “It’s a fantastic achievement to have been awarded the Outstanding Customer Service Award. To be one of only five housebuilders in the UK to achieve this level of customer service is testament to the hard work of everyone at Bancon Homes and I would like to thank all our colleagues for their continued efforts in delivering the best possible customer service. We pride ourselves on the level of individual customer care we provide. It really matters to us that each and every customer is happy with their home, we know how important it is,” said Allan Clow, the managing director of Bancon Homes. Tom Weston, the chief operating officer of In House Research, said the award was down to the “exceptional quality, regular communications and personal service” given to customers. In addition to its exceptional customer service, the construction firm has also retained its Gold Award accreditation, which is based on 90% of its customers saying they would recommend the firm to another person.
KAREN Ryan who spent 15 years of her career at Stepnell has been crowned Mentor of the Year at an annual award ceremony which recognises the very best in construction excellence within the West Midlands. The award recognises an individual who has shown a commitment to developing the future leaders of the industry and has invested their time in nurturing people to help them reach their full potential. She was instrumental in implementing Stepnell’s top-performing trainee and apprenticeship scheme which has boosted Stepnell’s workforce to include 10 per cent of apprentices, trainees and graduates and she chaired the Midlands Construction Training Group, helping other firms to upskill and train their workforces. Before retiring in the same week that she was presented with the award, Karen’s construction career with Stepnell has seen several successful partnerships forged with the CITB and schools and colleges across the Midlands which has resulted in young people joining the industry and becoming award-winners themselves. She said: “It was a huge compliment to be nominated for this award by my colleagues and receiving the award is an honour. “We’ve had so many young people join the business 15 years ago who are still with us now. I’ve seen them progress into senior positions, grow as professionals and have their own families. “These people are the life blood of the business. It’s built on investing in the next generation and that’s what Stepnell is all about. When I started there was less than 100 people, now there’s around 450, but the ethos of supporting staff and helping them grow is still the same.” Mark Wakeford, joint managing director from Stepnell said this award was a testament to Karen’s passion and dedication to mentoring within the industry. “Karen’s infectious enthusiasm to develop individuals within the construction industry has reaped dividends. At Stepnell we are committed to investing in the next generation of young talent and Karen paved the way by developing a hugely successful trainee and apprenticeship scheme,” he said. “Her work has been instrumental in helping us to exceed the industry’s “five per cent club” and we are proud to have apprentices, trainees and graduates making up at least ten per cent of our workforce. “Employee experience is a vital part of our culture at Stepnell, we work to nurture talent and recognise the achievements of individuals at every level across all five regions we operate in. “We offer diverse training opportunities for people leaving school, graduates, ex-offender programmes or people who want to retrain and we have several positions we’re recruiting to across our offices now.” To find out more about Stepnell careers visit: https://www.stepnell.co.uk/careers/current-vacancies/ Join the conversation at @Stepnellltd.
KDM Hire has been announced as a Winner in the 2019 Executive Hire Show Passionate Hirer Awards, which took place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The company was nominated in the Outstanding Multi-Depot Hire Company category, from no fewer than 750 outlets throughout the UK and Ireland that members of the Show team visited in the lead-up to the annual exhibition for tool and equipment hire professionals, held on 6 and 7 February. Finalists were scrutinised under a broad range of criteria, including presentation and functionality of premises; staff enthusiasm and competence; efficiency in handling enquiries and orders; quality of products and delivery vehicles; and innovation in offering a wide range of equipment and exploring new technological opportunities, following ‘mystery shopper’ visits and calls to their depots. Also part of the criteria were the company’s printed promotional materials and website, alongside its use of social media and supporting local community initiatives. KDM Hire & Sales has a depot in Belfast complementing its head office in Cookstown, which recently added a four-acre facility as a base for its dedicated accommodation and storage division, K-Cabin. The breadth and depth of the KDM hire fleet, the professionalism of all staff, and the company’s commitment to staff training and development were was impressed the Award judges the most. “KDM Hire displays a level of professionalism and commitment throughout its entire business rarely seen in the hire industry. The investment in not only equipment, but also the training of each employee is outstanding. As well as offering an extremely comprehensive fleet, it holds regular board meetings and Health & Safety audits, giving a clear sense of identity and purpose. It plays a role in its local community supporting sports teams and charitable causes,” commented the judges. Having been successful in the Passionate Hirer Awards ten years ago, the business has kept moving forward, with the Awards judges adding that “this company is extremely pro-active in everything it does. With a new dedicated site for its K-Cabin welfare and site accommodation business, there are certainly exciting times ahead for the team at KDM Hire.” KDM Hire was the Winner of the Passionate Hirer Award back in 2009, and the Runner-Up in the Show’s 2016 10/10 Anniversary Awards celebrating the tenth exhibition and recognising the outstanding companies from the previous winners.
Hull-based TLJ Security Systems’ electrical engineering apprentice, Lewis Wankiewicz, has won two awards at the Hull Training and Adult Education (HTAE) Awards 2018. The event, held at Hull’s Guildhall on the 9th of November, was a celebration of the achievements of apprentices, learners and businesses across the Hull and East Yorkshire region. Born out of the successful partnership HTAE has with local employers and partners each winner had an inspiring story to tell, making them true ambassadors in their field. The awards themselves were sponsored by local companies who are all passionate about providing apprenticeship and work placements to local people. “We are so proud of Lewis! He has visibly grown in confidence and stature during the time of his apprenticeship with us but was, frankly, a little overwhelmed by his double win. But it was fully deserved: despite being a naturally shy person, Lewis has grown into a strong team player and demonstrates an active focus on site safety. He has not only become technically skilled within the area of access control but also developed the ‘soft’ skills required when dealing with customers. Lewis’ success confirms our belief that even smaller companies can benefit from employing apprentices,” commented Claire Martin, TLJ’s Head of Human Resources. Lewis, 19, won two headline awards at the event: The Engineering Centre Apprentice of the Year and the HTAE Learner of the Year prize. A distinguished panel of judges, including local employers, past apprenticeship award winners and partners chose Lewis for his dedication and commitment to the business, as well as his exceptional professional, technical and personal development. “We truly believe that good education and work-based training plays a crucial role in building a bright future for our learners. It’s great that, through the HTAE awards scheme, we get the chance to celebrate the achievements of our apprentices, employers, trainers and partners. It’s great for the commercial future of our city, and the wider economy of the country,” said Sharon Gamble, Assistant City Manager with Hull City Council. TLJ were also category sponsors for The Engineering Centre Mike Brown Award for Outstanding Achievement.
The 2018 On the Tools Training Excellence Award has been awarded to Dulux Academy. The awards, which celebrate and reward construction workers, subcontractors, tools and equipment manufacturers and construction companies from across the UK, were held at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham. All entries for the awards are independently judged by a panel of industry experts – On The Tools is the No1 social site for tradespeople to watch videos, read articles and share content, with more than two million followers on Facebook, Instagram and twitter. “This award coincided with our four year anniversary of starting work on the concept that is now known as Dulux Academy,” said Vickie Mather, Dulux Academy Manager. “In that time, we have welcomed more than 4,500 professional painters on to our courses ranging across every aspect of decoration including spray, wallpaper, colour selection, first aid and social media at our flagship Slough facility and across our network of college partners. We’re proud to be recognised against construction industry peers and establish ourselves as a credible training provider contributing to the upskilling and professionalising of the painting and decorating industry,” added Vickie Mather. The On the Tools awards, hosted by comedian Justin Moorhouse, handed out a total of 25 awards, including recognition of excellence in individual trades. It was therefore great to share the awards stage with Georgie Baker, a Dulux Select Decorator, who was nominated and voted for by the public audience as Painter & Decorator of the Year. Dulux Academy is the home of painting and decorating excellence. Its team of industry leading experts delivers learning experiences that celebrate the brand’s portfolio and proud heritage, showcase products and application innovation and embrace technology. Its courses can deliver increased knowledge and understanding, enabling those who chose Dulux Academy to meet their personal and professional ambitions.
ECS Engineering Services has won a prestigious Environment Agency Health and Safety Award for the way it designed and implemented critical safety systems into a project to refurbish the extensive steelwork at Colwick Sluice on the River Trent. As a vital part of the Nottingham area’s flood control infrastructure, Colwick Sluice consists of five steel vertical river control gates, each nearly 13 metres wide by 6 metres in height. This important structure has been protecting the city and surrounding countryside for over 60 years and ECS has previously been involved in the maintenance of the gates and an upgrade to their control systems. Thanks to its long history of work on water control infrastructure, ECS was invited to undertake refurbishment of the exterior steelwork structure, a project that required careful consideration and a great deal of planning and preparation. Some of the steelwork could be removed for cleaning and repainting off-site. However, much of the repainting work had to be in-situ – a lot of it had to be carried out over water, meaning special safety measures in case anyone fell into the river. There were also major environmental considerations to prevent old paint flakes, debris and other items from contaminating the waters, riverbank, wildlife and ecosystem. In the first stage of the project, ECS erected extensive scaffolding around the sluice, including a section to replace a gantry and walkway that had been temporarily removed. The scaffolding was designed to provide engineers with safe, clear access to all surfaces of the steelwork many metres in the air, and also to catch and contain falling debris. To improve the working environment and minimise the amount of debris dropping into the river, the scaffolding was encapsulated with tent-like walls allowing the operations to be carried out even in extreme weather. As part of the safety commitment a three-man water rescue team was on site at all times during the works, positioned in a small, highly manoeuvrable rescue boat, equipped for any likely eventuality so that they could deploy instantly to recover a person from the water. People working on the scaffold wore a double lanyard safety harness so that they could attach themselves to the scaffolding. If they had to move from one section of scaffold to another, they would unclip one lanyard and reattach it to the new section before undoing the second one, thus always remaining secure. The site teams carried out risk planning and mitigation during the planning phase of the project, identifying that it could be possible for a person to fall, be saved by their lanyard but unable to regain the safety of the scaffold walkway even with assistance. To cover this eventuality everyone was issued with a strap knife that they could use to cut the lanyard and drop into the river if needed – but not until the rescue boat was in position to effect an immediate recovery. Jamie Wesley, Operations Director at ECS recalls: “In conjunction with our client, ECS ensured that the rescue drills were carefully planned, exercised and that all personnel were correctly briefed on their roles prior to any works being carried out. Once ECS were happy with performance of our safe systems of work we invited our colleagues from the Environment Agency to attend an onsite demonstration where a life-sized dummy, rather than a real person, was dropped into the river and rescued.” The rescue team was on station with a Jason’s cradle to deploy over the side of the boat to initiate retrieval. The cradle is a piece of equipment specially developed to be used in retrieval from water which, when positioned beneath a person, is used to easily and quickly haul them into a boat. ECS had this demonstration filmed so that a training video could be produced and shown to all personnel working on the project. Jamie Wesley again states: “Safety is paramount and our pre-planning and demonstration showed that we had all the assets in place to make this project as safe as possible. We have learned lessons and proved systems that we can take forward into future projects. Winning the award confirmed that we had done our best and proven our capabilities for safety in ‘above water’ projects.”
The Institute of Chartered Foresters is pleased to announce the four recipients of the 2018 Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award. The Institute’s Student members Tom Haynes and Michael Wilson from the University of Cumbria were selected among talented competition as the United Kingdom applicants, while Daniel Root from the University of Toronto and Erin Pearson from College of the North Atlantic were selected among top Canadian recipients. Now in its fourth year, the Award program is fully endorsed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The Award program is a UK-Canada partnership between The Prince of Wales’ Duchy of Cornwall, the Institute of Chartered Foresters in the UK, and CIF-IFC in Canada, sponsored by the The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation. “This unique and prestigious Award helps foster future forest leaders by recognising young professionals with a passion for forestry and natural resources management,” explains Dana Collins, Executive Director at CIF-IFC. “We’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response from previous Award recipients and employers, and are very excited to continue building on the success of this program again this year.” The UK and Canadian recipients will participate in an international work exchange in their respective partner countries during the summer of 2018. They will be placed in roles at some of the top forestry and natural resources management employers in Canada and the UK, in addition to receiving a bursary of £7,500 GBP to cover expenses. This year’s employers will be announced shortly. “I am delighted by the continued interest in this Award,” says Geraint Richards MVO MICFor, the Duchy of Cornwall’s Head Forester. “The Award will further strengthen our relationship with the Canadian Institute of Forestry. I wish Daniel, Erin, Tom and Michael, every success and I look forward to hearing about their experiences abroad.” “The Institute of Chartered Foresters congratulates all recipients of The Prince of Wales Forest Leadership Award. This is a fantastic opportunity for future forest leaders. We are looking forward to welcoming the Canadian winners to the UK, and hope that it is an invaluable learning experience in both countries,” added Andy Lederer, Development Director at the Institute of Chartered Foresters.
