2007 Winners

Leadership & People Development Award 2007
Winner: Watkin Jones & Son

In what was a very impressive submission, this small team demonstrated an example of personal and people development unusual for this size of company.

Sometimes it is a truism to say that the main component of a successful business is its people. However, saying it and then making sure that you motivate them and understand them is crucial. Watkin Jones Group has linked a logical and practical approach focussed on skills with emotional understanding and has led to a motivated, healthy and more importantly a happy workforce. The management team is consistently looking at ways to improve all aspects of working life, personal care and commitment to people development for all its employees at all levels regardless of seniority. In the past year it has concentrated on improving the atmosphere, attitudes and culture of the business. It has introduced a programme to assist employees in various demanding and stressful situations and given senior management specific training and executive coaching to give them the skills necessary to lead the team. One major performance indicator has been a reduction in absenteeism figures with no employees on long term sickness leave.

Supported by:

Leadership & People Development Award 2007
Highly Commended: City & County of Swansea – Corporate Building Services

It was very clear from the submission that City & County of Swansea had taken a bold strategic decision to undertake a major programme of staff training and development. This is taking the form of a number of initiatives, but together they are all aiming to produce a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the twenty-first century. The corporate building services team has in the region of 550 employees covering a full range of disciplines, together with in excess of 50 modern apprentices. Its management has embraced the principles of leadership; mentoring schemes are in place and there is positive engagement with schools and minority groups to educate the community about careers in construction. The team has made tremendous progress in a short period.

Supported by:

Project Leadership Award 2007
Winner: Trawsfynydd Strategic Integrated Framework

Trawsfynydd is an outstanding example of how leadership needs to be embedded within a development programme in what is a very important project for Wales. The decommissioning of the nuclear power station at Trawsfynydd was always going to be a sensitive project that needed expert management. The team needed to make the shift from traditional leadership techniques to a system that involved the whole team in order to realise the value in the scheme. To achieve this, the management embraced a more consultative approach to secure ideas and suggestions from all the partners involved – i.e. they have embedded leadership principles amongst everyone, and not one single person. The submission illustrated that the project team has made a successful transition and is now leading the way for best practice in this sector.

Sponsored by:

SME Award
Winner: CW Electrical

This business has been one of the most enthusiastic exponents of best practice in the country. Its passion for improvement that runs from the top and throughout the operation was quite evident from a well prepared award entry. Change, innovation and best practice has become embedded in the organisation in both culture and processes and there is a strong commitment to training and development through direct employment and apprenticeships. Unlike many other small businesses, there is an extensive use of IT and a willingness to apply sophisticated tools and systems that are normally only applied by the bigger players. It was also clear from the submission that the drive for business improvement is not new and individual development has been ongoing over time – for example an apprentice taken on in 1990 has now progressed through the organisation to the position of contract manager.

Health & Safety Award 2007
Winner: Morrison Construction

Morrisons was a clear winner of this award just for their outstanding record of over 800,000 man-hours worked without a lost time accident. This alone is excellent evidence of very sound health and safety management in a collaborative environment working in an alliance with Dwˆr Cymru/Welsh Water. However, they also demonstrated excellent method by not just measuring results but also pinpointing the improvements they have made in the process. Success in health and safety is all about having the right culture – something that was made very clear in Morrisons submission. One key factor was the openness and honest culture applied to all areas of the company. This has created an environment where all team members feel comfortable reporting any incidents. This in turn has established a common culture of improvement – something every business needs to strive for. It was also clear to the judges that Morrisons had gone beyond the requirements of CDM.

Sponsored by:

The Legacy Award - Sustainability 2007
Winner: Gwynedd Consultancy – Class 3 County Road near Plas yn Rhiw

Not only did Gwynedd Consultancy demonstrate an excellent approach towards sustainability in this entry, but they consistently showed an innovative and imaginative method to problem solving. The first obstacle was how to manage the work on what was a constricted site; the second was to find a way to preserve the local habitat during the construction phase. As with all good sustainable projects, the design and planning stage had to be very thorough and flexible to meet environmental constraints. Throughout the project Gwynedd Consultancy made good use of local labour, materials and on-site recycling processes and secured community involvement and support for the scheme. They re-established a public transport link for the community and made a positive addition to the landscape. Finally, the award entry itself was well put together, clearly demonstrating the sustainability credentials ingrained in the project.

Sponsored by:

Innovation Award 2007
Winner: Gwynedd Consultancy– Pont Gwynfynydd

As we have seen in the sustainability award, Gwynedd Consultancy has an innovative approach to its work. The team showed innovation in all respect of its work at Pont Gwynfynydd with excellent involvement of specialists at an early enough stage to make a real difference to the project. This shows not just innovation, but foresight. Not only that, but the team also demonstrated that they were sensitive to the local environment and used locally sourced materials where ever possible. They went on to apply good working practices to reduce risk and potential wear and tear, which in turn helped them overcome other potential problem areas. Challenging issues that needed to be dealt with were: heavy traffic, inclusion in a conservation area and maintaining a cycle route. The consultancy took the approach of engaging the people best placed to ‘know how’ to address specific issues – quickly, efficiently and sustainably. The outcome is a modern, high performance bridge which maintains a traditional appearance.

Sponsored by:

Innovation Award 2007
Highly commended: Torfaen County Borough Council – Hollybush Integrated Children’s Centre

This submission was a highly impressive example of sustainability in its use of timber construction and with an emphasis on life long low maintenance. The Torfaen team had focussed on the best way of securing whole life value and to manage costs effectively. The all round approach of the team and its effective application of the design process at the beginning of the project allowed them to put together a very sustainable and innovative solution.

Sponsored by:

Integration & Collaborative Working Award 2007
Winner: Read Construction Supply Chain Network

This award is the story of a small contractor that was determined to do business in a different way – not client driven but driven by the organisations own values – as advocated by the principles of rethinking construction and best practice. However, it is not just about doing things differently, it is also about the successful growth of an indigenous Welsh company from three to 80 employees. It is also about what can happen with commitment to a very positive engagement of the supply chain backed up by a strong contractor led approach. Above all, the success of Read Construction Supply Chain Network is evidence that it is all about investing time and not money that makes the real difference providing it is based on faith in the process and a sound strategy of implementation.

Sponsored by:

Integration & Collaborative Working
Highly Commended: Charter Customer Focused Maintenance

Charter’s award entry was a clear demonstration about what can be done by following best practice – its team achieved real results and therefore we wanted to acknowledge its success with a commendation. Its approach was to adopt an established framework and methodology but work in open partnership with its suppliers. It required a lot of commitment and dedication on the part of the management and their supply chain and demanded some cultural shifts as well. This was supported by a strategy based on analysis and evidence and guidance from specialist consultants. It was clear to the judges that the process had been a positive learning experience with some excellent all round benefits.

Sponsored by:

Achievers Award 2007
Winner: C D Gray - Bridge for Schools

C D Gray is the winner of this award because we believe they are leaving a legacy. In physical terms there is the Bridge for Schools itself; there was strong collaboration between industry and schools which is vital for the long term reputation of construction; and in terms of people, the business made a connection with staff, school children, students, public, companies and professional bodies. Their approach has been recognised by others and is not just acknowledged as innovative, but has been replicated as well. Their work has gone a long way to change the perception and image of the construction industry and also to secure respect for its outputs. It is worth stressing that C D Gray did not have a business case for these actions, but the fantastic results and feedback clearly are justification enough. The judges regarded their approach as inspirational.

Judges Special Award

The judges created a discretionary award to recognise the submission that has consistently scored highly across the whole array of award categories, indicating consistent and comprehensive excellence.

Winner: Porth Relief Road Project Team

The Porth Relief Road project and the integrated team that led the scheme has demonstrated collaborative working, overcome some major challenges and initiated changes in products and process that has left a long lasting positive impression within the client and construction organisations. Not only that, but the project has improved the quality of life of the local community, stimulated the involvement and growth of small and medium sized enterprises and encouraged individual skills development that has resulted in the creation of a sustainable work force. Taken as a whole, this has created something of a sector legacy. The judges have described the scheme as: “A benchmark of how to improve the economy, employment, capital cost and time reduction. It is a testimony to the relationships developed in the team.”