Judging process

• The panel of judges will consider each submission against the category criteria.
• The judges have the authority to recommend entries to more appropriate categories.
• Shortlisted entrants will be required to make a presentation to the judging panel on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 of May 2021
• Their decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into following the awards.
• Winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony late afternoon on Thursday 1 July 2021 
  • Following a day of discussion panels where finalists will be invited to participate
    
• All awards are made at the discretion of the judges.
• The right is reserved not to make awards in a particular category.
• The judges reserve the right to refuse entries without giving reasons.

Information supplied to or by the judges, or discussed between the judges and entrants, can be treated in complete confidence if requested.

Adrian Shah-Cundy – Corporate Responsibility Director, VolkerWessels UK

A proven career history in the implementation and development of sustainable business practices, including the oversight of health, safety, environment, quality, and sustainability to maintain compliance to corporate, legal and stakeholder requirements.

At VolkerWessels UK responsible for the provision of a range of services including health, safety, environment, quality, sustainability, occupational health and wellbeing, integrated management systems, performance reporting, operational training, fleet, facilities, major incident management, strategic development, and collaboration.

Alex Neall - Framework Manager, Southern Construction Framework

Alex has worked in the Construction Industry for 25 years and is a Chartered Construction Manager. He has worked in several different roles within the industry with most of his career being as a Project Manager for Specialist Sub-Contractors working on large commercial projects.

For the last 4 years, Alex has been a Framework Manager for SCF SE region as well as managing various other construction frameworks for Hampshire County Council. In this time, he has looked to continuously improve the framework processes and believes that building strong contractor relationships and collaboration are key to a successful framework.

Andy Wardle - Sales Director, Waterloo

Andy has over 35 years’ experience within construction, specialising in Heating and Ventilation. His career started on the shop floor, followed by planning and internal sales engineering. For the last 20 years Andy has been involved in external technical sales, working with customers to ensure product specifications deliver comfort and efficiency. In his 15 years at Waterloo, he has gradually taken on increased management responsibility and has been Sales Director for the last 2 years.

Charles Haywood – Director of Quantity Surveying, MacConvilles

Charles’ chartered surveying/cost management experience spans public and private sectors and covers retail, leisure, housing , office, health care and education.

His recent projects include the construction of a new £10million steel processing plant and offices for Shoreham Port Authority, a £6milllion care home with 84 beds and the re-ordering of a Victorian church to create a space for new flats and a community centre on four floors.

Charles also has extensive experience in dispute avoidance and dispute resolution, acting for clients in adjudication proceedings and arbitration as Expert Witness and Single Joint Expert.

Cheryl Causebrook – Chair, Constructing Excellence Kent

Cheryl has been in the industry for over 30 years. With a commercial start as a Contractor’s QS, she has worked cross industry for clients, contractors and sub-contractors. Moving on to project manage, lead and develop others, Cheryl has a passion for her chosen industry and loves nothing more than to communicate this with her peers and regularly speaks within schools to encourage our youth to take up this exciting path. With a passion for communication and networking, Cheryl chairs the Kent Club of Constructing Excellence, co-chairs Kent Invicta Chamber’s Kent Construction Focus Group and Building Kent Connections.

Christian Charles – Partner, Construction, Fladgate

Christian is a construction lawyer with particular expertise in the resolution of disputes arising from construction and engineering projects in the UK and internationally. He helps clients to anticipate and resolve problems that arise in the course of construction and engineering projects, including issues such as payment, variations, delays, defects and termination. His clients come from all corners of the industry, from funders and developers to contractors, sub-contractors and consultants. 

Christian advises on issues as they arise in ‘real time’, allowing clients to focus on project delivery with a view to avoiding formal proceedings. Where that is not possible, he advises clients on the prosecution or defence of claims and, more broadly, on dispute resolution strategy and settlement. Christian represents clients in a wide range of dispute resolution proceedings in the UK and overseas, including adjudication, dispute boards, arbitration and litigation. He is also experienced in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, in particular mediation. His practice covers a wide range of industry sectors, with a particular focus currently on PFI / PPP, green energy and offshore construction projects. Christian is familiar with most of the major forms of contract including JCT, NEC, IChemE and FIDIC.

Dr Christos Vidalakis – Head of Property Sustainability, Office of Government Property, Cabinet Office

Christos has more than 20 years of experience in higher education, research, construction and property sectors. He has led on a wide range of industry transformation programmes, R&D projects, innovation and knowledge exchange partnerships.

With a background in civil engineering and doctorate studies in Project Management, his work has received several awards for excellence and impact generation. From 2007 to 2012 he worked for Constructing Excellence in the South West. Christos has recently joined the Office of Government Property, fulfilling the ambition of improving the environmental performance of central government property and facilitating the transition of the government estate towards Net Zero.

David Weare – Partner, Fladgate

David has over 20 years’ construction law experience, in private practice and as an in-house legal adviser to Trafalgar House Construction Ltd.

He specialises in complex project work, litigation, arbitration, adjudication and various forms of ADR. David acts for employers, contractors, professionals, and funds in the UK and further afield. He has particular experience in the Middle East, having been a resident construction lawyer in Abu Dhabi for a number of years.

Gary O'Brien - Director, Construction Clients’ Leadership Group

Gary is a Chartered Construction Manager, with extensive experience in design, planning and delivery of infrastructure projects with a proven track record of delivering single and multiple projects in challenging and demanding environments. Gary is currently a Director of the Construction Clients’ Leadership Group and its aim is a fit-for-purpose built environment, delivered by an excellent industry, which delights its clients and end users and adds whole life tangible value.

Gary started his career in 1978 as an electrical apprentice at Gatwick Airport. In 1995 Gary was promoted to project manager and spent a long career delivering infrastructure projects at Gatwick and Heathrow Airports. Hs achievements include leading a programme of projects to move airlines from South to North Terminal at Gatwick Airport, which started the airport’s 10-year transformation programme. Gary also delivered Terminal 2’s Multi-Storey Car Park project which included the first road changes in 30 years in the busy Central Terminal Area of Heathrow Airport.

Graeme Forbes – Director, Clearbox

Graeme is a Director of Clearbox. His background is in the delivery of design and build projects in Pharma and other Hi-tech industries where he ran a specialist business for many years.

Graeme has been focused on applying technology-driven solutions to the delivery of projects since the early 2000s and it is this background that led him to venture out and focus entirely on developing specialist technology for the AEC space.

The result is Clearbox, a solutions provider that is driven to achieve ROI for customers by enabling the efficient and effective management of their projects through a collaborative environment that gathers, analyses and delivers context-sensitive information wherever they are and whenever they need it.

Helen Ensor - Associate Director, Donald Insall Associates

Helen joined Donald Insall Associates in 2013 from English Heritage (now Historic England), wherein she worked as an Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas; prior to this she was a Senior Conservation Officer at Westminster City Council. At Insall, Helen initially worked in London, advising on major schemes for clients as diverse as CapCo and the Grosvenor Estate. In 2017 she set up a new branch of the practice in Oxford, and can now count the Colleges of Lincoln, Hertford, St Anne’s, St. Hugh’s and Wycliffe Hall amongst her clients, as well as many private individuals and developers. 

Helen is a highly respected conservationist, with 23 years’ experience in the planning and development sector, and has an outstanding track record of negotiating consent in respect of sensitive and complex sites. She has lectured extensively at universities and conferences on conservation planning and architectural history and is a member of the Oxford Diocesan Advisory Committee and a Director of the Historic Towns and Villages Forum.

Helen Patel – Business Development Manager (South-East), CIOB

Helen has a background in Risk Management with responsibility for managing Risk strategies across EMEA and more recently completed a PGCE  leading to teaching in Further Education.

As the manager of the Chartered Building Companies/Consultancies scheme, Helen drives the Institute’s Chartered company membership growth and retention strategies. With CIOB at the heart of professional construction careers, they do set high standards for the industry and the CBC scheme is a kitemark of quality and excellence, building professionalism and integrity in the industry.  

Ian Bailey – Director, Artelia UK

Ian is responsible for developing new business lines, clients and ways to deliver real benefit to clients through Artelia’s evolving “consciously unique” approach. Particularly focused on achieving outstanding customer satisfaction, Ian is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Project Manager with 35 years of experience in construction and property.

Jane Duncan OBE – Past President, RIBA

Jane studied at the Bartlett (UCL) and Jane Duncan Architects was established in Amersham, Bucks in 1992 and now has 17 architects and interior designers.   The workload includes contemporary sustainable houses, to leisure and sports facilities, school and community buildings principally throughout the South of England.

Jane championed small practices at RIBA establishing the annual Guerrilla Tactics conferences concerning business issues. She was VP Practice 2007-13, and RIBA’s Equality and Diversity Champion 2012 to 2014.  She served as RIBA President from 2015-17.

She currently chairs three RIBA panels: the Expert Panel on Fire Safety, the Constitution Review Group, and a review of RIBA Awards. She remains a Trustee on RIBA Council and Board both of which she chaired as President.

Jessica Skilbeck - Director, Industrial Strategy, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Jessica Skilbeck was until recently Director of Industrial Strategy in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading work to support long-term economic growth across the UK. Before that, she was Deputy Director for Housing Strategy in MHCLG, looking at the objectives and impact of Government’s suite of interventions in the housing market, including the role of offsite construction in improving productivity in the house building sector. Before joining MHCLG, Jessica held a range of roles at the Department for Business and Cabinet Office.

Julie Barry – Head of Business Development for RIFT R&D

For the past 5 years, whilst working at RIFT, Julie has specialised in Research & Development in Construction, reaching across all disciplines within the sector from design, through construction and fit-out to FM.

Julie has an in-depth understanding of the complex processes and procedures within the construction industry. This has resulted in an appreciation of the often unrecognised innovation that takes place on-site and the ability to translate practical onsite work into a successful R&D Tax Relief claim.  

Keith Waller – Director, Construction Innovation Hub’s Programme

A Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Keith has been involved in construction and infrastructure projects for over 30 years, leading many major projects in both the UK and overseas.

In 2010, Keith was seconded into government with Infrastructure UK (the predecessor to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority). He has served on several boards and cross-Whitehall groups, including the Infrastructure Client Group, the Offshore Wind Programme Board, Infrastructure Working Group of the Green Construction Board and the Government Construction Board. He has also advised a number of foreign governments on strategic infrastructure planning and delivery.

Malcolm Clarke - Managing Director, Baxall Construction

A well-known and respected name across the industry, Malcolm has over 40 years construction experience. Starting his career with John Laing Plc he joined Baxall in 1986 and within a few years became the Managing Director. He is passionate about Baxall #doingitdifferenty and being an SME disrupter for the ever-changing industry. He is a strong advocate of the CLC Road to Recovery, Construction Playbook and Value for Money Procurement model. At operational level, Malcolm promotes exceptional standards, a customer-focused culture and collaborative team approach to each and every project, leading by example and encouraging the same.

Margaret Sackey - Capital Projects, Health & Safety Manager, University College London

Martin Lovegrove – Head of Health, Safety & Build Quality Assurance, Berkeley Group

Martins job at Berkeley Group currently involves sitting on a number of influential working groups. He has been responsible for implementing and developing management systems from the start, as well as operating as an ‘onsite’ professional in a number of roles and for a number of organisations.

Martin spent in excess of 20 years in Farming and Estate Management and qualified during this time in health and safety, including working with the HSE on farm safety in a number of areas.

He has been exposed to a wide range of experiences in health and safety, including estate management, agricultural safety, construction, civil engineering, engineering, telecommunications and utilities.

Natasha Baum - Senior Project Manager, Willmott Dixon

Natasha has extensive experience in both developed and emerging markets within the construction industry, having delivered projects in the UK, Russia and former CIS. As a Senior Project Manager for Willmott Dixon, Natasha is currently delivering preconstruction project management services for Design and Build projects across Public and Private Sectors. 

Natasha is keen to raise awareness and promote the construction industry to younger people to bridge the skill shortage gap. She is also an active Women in Construction ambassador working on promoting inclusion and diversity within the industry.

Paul Greenwood – Director, Greenwood Consultants, and Vice-Chair, London Constructing Excellence Club

Paul is a management consultant and engineer, with over thirty years’ experience of providing business improvement services to leading construction and service sector clients, and complex time-critical major projects, internationally.

After a decade in Europe, Middle- and Far-East, he returned to the UK and spent a decade with a housing investor, developer and contractor.  Here he pioneered their successful partnering and performance improvement initiatives, and became deeply involved with industry transformation through the Rethinking Construction organisations.

Paul now provides collaborative working and performance improvement consultancy to businesses in the UK and Far-East.  He is also a Constructing Excellence Collaborative Working Champion, an Associate Director of the Institute for Collaborative Working, and member of ISO TC286 Collaborative Business Relationships.

Peter Sharman – Director for Sustainability, Mulalley   

Peter is proud to be a Chartered Builder with over 35 years of experience in the construction industry, having worked with both contractors and clients. He is passionate about sustainability and has been instrumental in Mulalley achieving carbon neutrality for the last four years, offsetting 7,000 tonnes of CO2 across a variety of international projects, which support the company’s preferred UN SDGs. He’s led on achieving a 28% reduction in energy use within Mulalley since 2015, and ensured they were the first company to be ESOS Phase 2 compliant. Peter is a keen advocate for innovation and promoting and sharing best practice.

Sarah Mason - Business Development Manager, Vinci Construction

Sarra Hawes - Director, Hawes Construction Group

Sarra has 30 years’ experience in the construction industry, starting out as a site engineer then site manager running a wide variety of projects for a national contractor. 8 years she set up her own construction company with her husband Bruce, they continue to cover the range of projects by working in health, education, commercial, retail and residential sectors.

Sarra is a construction ambassador for the CITB and an Enterprise advisor for a local pupil referral school, working with the East Sussex Careers Hub. She is passionate about and keen to promote the construction industry and its opportunities to young people especially for young women.

Steve Hayman – Director, Cheesmur Building Contractors  

Steve is MRICS and MCIOB qualified and has delivered high-quality construction in the UK and overseas. This includes many award-winning projects and in 2009 he and business partner Terry Nitman brought their extensive experience to the fore when they took on a failing business. Since then they have developed a successful team that has overturned the deficit and continues to deliver steady and controlled growth and profitability.

Steve Hearn - Chief Executive Officer, Mid Group

Steven is the CEO of Mid Group having joined the company as a founding Director in 2015. A civil engineer who has worked with some of the UK’s biggest civil and building contractors, Steven has amassed experience in a range of building types including residential, research laboratories, education, commercial and waste water, having seen a number of projects through the tender, design and construction phases. A highly experienced individual Steven leads Mid Group’s mission of delivering simplicity in a complex world, thus becoming the most sustainable construction company in the UK.

Steven Hale - Director, Crofton Consulting

Tim Embley - Group Research & Innovation Director, Costain

Tim Embley is the Group Research & Innovation Director at Costain Group Plc. He is an industry leader that believes passionately about improving people’s lives through the business decisions we make.  He has a significant track record in business transformation, implementing research and innovation into live industrial environments, creating value for clients and accelerating prosperity for the UK economy.

In Costain he responsible for the strategy, delivery and commercial returns of innovation and corporate venturing activity.  He understands the importance of supporting small business as a vital part of our UK economy and is clear that business should have a clear industrial research strategy to work effectively with Universities. The outcomes of our work should now be measured in their contribution to decarbonising the economy.

He is a founding member of i3P and performance an active role in industry working groups. Tim believes passionately in recognising achievements and is delighted to be a judge in the SECBE Awards.