How significant are awards?

The 2018 awards season is now officially over! Well, for McCue it is anyway. We’ve been very fortunate with the NAS Design Partnership Awards having won for two years in a row in London. This year was with another Belfast project, the renowned Harp Bar in the Heritage Category.

The same project was a finalist in the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) NI Awards and we recently received Highly Commended in the Belfast Telegraph Property Awards for best Commercial Fit Out project.

We’ve also been privileged to see Lillie Square Clubhouse in London announced as a finalist in this year’s CEF NI awards. Lillie Square takes luxurious living to another level with the facilities of the world’s most impressive five star hotels available to you as you step outside the front door. It really is something special.

In addition to this, McCue was recognised for their work at the Four Seasons Hotel, Ten Trinity Square in London at the 2018 Restaurant and Bar Design Awards. The Mei Ume Restaurant, where McCue completed the fit out, in addition to various other areas of the impressive building, won ‘Best Overall UK Restaurant’.

Receiving an award can be great recognition of the work by McCue but it is also a great opportunity to celebrate and network with like-minded people in our industry.

Ultimately and regardless of the award, it is about the people who work tirelessly to deliver the project, on time and on budget. It’s the whole team, each and every one has a part to play - from the HR Manager to the cleaner, they all are important in ensuring the wheels in McCue keep turning.

It would be foolhardy of me to say that all that matters is receiving an award; that can’t be further from the truth, as I take pride in the McCue team for their effort, diligence, hard work and passion in completing these projects and many more, not just the ones that win awards, particularly given McCue projects were located right across Europe this year including Milan, Paris, London, Belfast, Dublin and many more.

However, the awards pale in significance when my team come together, as we did quite recently, in something as simple as a quiz night in the heart of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter, on a Friday night in The Dark Horse.

Yes, we had a good night, yes, it was good craic but most of all we were coming together as a team to complete a different project – to raise money for a local charity.

So are the awards great? Well, yes, that goes without saying but it is so much better when I get to spend actual time with the team and in doing so raise a fabulous ￡1700 for Helping Hand, the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children charity.

Well done team – that’s some award!