Industry pioneers crowned at Constructing Excellence Yorkshire and Humber annual awards

The winners of the twenty nineteen Constructing Excellence Yorkshire and Humber Awards have been revealed at a prestigious gala ceremony in Leeds. Organised by the Centre for Knowledge Exchange, an enterprise hub based at the School of Built Environment and Engineering at Leeds Beckett University, these annual awards bring together construction firms across the county to recognise and reward those demonstrating best practice in construction over the last twelve months. This year, a record attendance of over 480 built environment professionals contested seventeen different awards, each representing some of the most important issues in the construction sector, including people development, wellbeing, digital and innovation.

Sponsored by Galliford Try and hosted by BBC Radio 5 Live’s Danni Hewson, attendees were treated to a networking drinks reception, a three course gourmet meal followed by the awards presentation, all set against this year’s theme of black-tie disco. Speeches were given by Dr Andrew Mooney from Kidney Research Yorkshire, the chosen charity for the evening, and the Dean of the School of Built Environment and Engineering, Professor Akintola Akintoye. Professor Akintoye spoke about the need to encourage more young people into construction as well as outlining the success of the School’s new degree apprenticeships and research programmes, in particular the work of the Leeds Sustainability Institute who sponsored the Sustainability award at the ceremony.

Professor Akintoye stated “Our awards continue to showcase the significant contribution that the built environment makes to the Yorkshire and Humber region, as well as highlighting the wealth of local construction talent available here. Many of our former students are involved in delivering these great projects and we are proud to have played a part in developing the next generation of talent.”

However, the real praise on the evening was reserved for all the industry finalists who made up the twenty nineteen shortlist. The sheer diversity of entrants from local regeneration schemes to multi-million pound civil and building projects (and even a pet cemetery!) demonstrated that construction in Yorkshire and Humber is responding positively to economic uncertainty, fostering innovation and driving collaboration to change the way the industry builds for the better. 

Over ￡3300 was raised for Kidney Research Yorkshire with a cheque presentation being made to Dr Andrew Mooney at the end of the evening. More information about Kidney Research Yorkshire and their groundbreaking work in supporting people with kidney disease and their families can be found at Kidney Research Yorkshire.

The winners of each award category now go on to represent the Yorkshire and Humber region at the National Constructing Excellence Awards in Autumn. The full list of winners and highly commended can be viewed at Constructing Excellence Yorkshire and Humber.

The Centre for Knowledge Exchange team would like to extend a huge thank you to all the sponsors, entrants, judges and attendees for being involved in this year’s awards and the School looks forward to working with the industry once again throughout the 2019/2020 academic year.

If you are interested in being involved in the Constructing Excellence Yorkshire and Humber Awards 2020, please contact Liz or Donna at the Centre for Knowledge Exchange on 0113 812 1902 or via email to [email protected].