Tag: ceyhawards

Constructing Excellence Members’ Forum – Autumn 2015

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Details have just been released about this year’s members forum event which is taking place on 14th October at Pinsent Masons LLP in London.

Date: Wednesday 14 October 2015
Venue: Pinsent Masons LLP, 30 Crown Place, Earl Street, London EC2A 4ES
Timing: 12.30 – 4.30pm (including lunch)

This Members’ Forum will focus on our members’ theme groups and aims to help members get more value from these. Last year we held a similar event to showcase the groups and consult on any new topics which members felt should be theme groups. This year we again want to showcase the groups’ work, and attendees will hear about new outputs being launched from the Asset Management, Procurement and Collaborative Working groups. Other themes currently include Sustainability, BIM, Funding & Finance, and the Nuclear sector. Our objective is to improve members’ engagement with these themes, and to ask whether these are the right topics for 2016. We look forward to an interesting afternoon and hope as many members as possible will be able to attend.

Please note that, as usual, in the morning we will have a meeting of our members steering group. Each member is entitled to nominate a rep to attend these meetings, they are not a closed shop and new people are welcome at any time. The meetings are always in the morning of the forums (i.e. 3 per year), take 2 hours or so, and are where we develop and direct our work programme to add value for members. Please contact the office if you would like to attend or to be included in the distribution list for future meetings.

Please also note that our Annual Conference will take place at Lord’s cricket ground on 11 November. Each national member is entitled to two free places (additional places and non-members attract a fee). The theme will be learning from other industries, with speakers from IT and aerospace amongst others. You can book for the Annual Conference on EventBrite.

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Introductions Don Ward, Chief Executive
2. Innovation in Practice Demo project Öppen – John Rich, SRA Architects
3. New outputs from our theme groups; 3.1. Asset management John O’Brien, LCMB 3.2. Collaborative working Kevin Thomas, Visionality
4. Breakout session and plenary feedback See below for details
5. Glenigan – KPI findings Tom Crane, Glenigan
6. Close Murray Rowden, CE Chairman

BREAKOUT SESSION “WHAT MATTERS ABOUT…”

Prior to the afternoon’s breakout session, attendees will be invited to add their thoughts to flipcharts on what is important to them about Asset Management, BIM, Collaborative Working, Funding & Finance, Nuclear, Sustainability and Procurement.During the breakout session, the Theme Group Chairs will each facilitate an individual session during which they give a brief update on their group, and use the flipchart data to prompt further discussion/ideas, and help to prioritise and shape the work plans for the next year. Attendees will be free to move amongst as many tables as they wish during the course of the session. There will also be a table for “Missing Theme Groups/New topics” for those who want to discuss or at least propose new topics for CE attention. To book onto the event, please contact Deborah Hynes on 07968 206 115 or deborah.hynes@constructingexcellence.org.uk

UPCOMING MEETINGS

Sustainability Theme Group Meeting – 8th October

Members Steering Group – 14th October

Members’ Forum – 14th October

National Awards – 23rd October

Annual Conference – 11th November

BIM Theme Group meeting- 2nd December

Collaborative Working Champions Meeting – 3rd December

Nuclear Theme Group Meeting – 10th December

Parliamentary Reception – 15th December

 

Why the Construction Excellence Awards are important – they let out Yorkshire’s best kept secrets!

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Simon Owen

Guest Blog Post by Simon Owen, Vice-Chairman of CIBSE Yorkshire

I don’t know about you, but while I knew Yorkshire is a big county, and that we have a lot of building and construction work centred within the area, I didn’t know just how good we are at it. That changed on Friday…

At the Construction Excellence Yorkshire and Humber Awards people from all branches of the construction and engineering family came together to talk about what they do and celebrate what they have achieved over the last year. I was the guest of Tekla and it wasn’t until I was chatting with Marian Thomasson and Jill Willoughby that I realised Yorkshire’s history of innovation goes beyond the building as a whole, but also to the local manufacturers; Hepworth Building Products were at the front end of developing push fit plumbing fittings while NavisWorks is a development of a package created in Sheffield.

Kicking off the evening, Chris Gorse, Director and Professor of the Leeds Sustainability Institute and Centre for the Built Environment at Leeds Beckett University discussed with pride and passion the developments that they have been involved with as part of his opening speech, from the students graduating, the establishment of ThinkBIM, GreenVision, Construction Knowledge Exchange while he neglected to mention the launch of BIM4SME’s being held in the region or that the University acts as the central hub for the UK Living Building Challenge team. He made up for it though by talking about the close relationship that they have with industry and the shared enthusiasm for carrying out research to find a better way of doing what we do.

The thing I’ve admired about all of the groups Chris mentioned is that they are accessible; there is an “everybody welcome” approach so that no matter what your base level of knowledge you will enjoy the event and won’t feel daft being there. The other thing that is special about them is that they are all shared via through social media, web casts and tweets – possibly not a secret, but worth knowing if you have an interest in the subject but were a bit nervous about coming along.

 

Amy Garcia and Tom Oulton

CEYH Chair, Tom Oulton, and host, BBC Look North’s Amy Garcia, taking selfies

The presentations themselves were inspirational; for instance Alison Watson of Class of Your Own introduced three of her students who had been working with Cundall, Mott MacDonald and Laing O’Rourke. They talked about their course, their plans for the future and how they have been supported by the companies that they worked with. There was a huge applause for the Alison as she is well known and recognised for being a trail blazer, but this was almost dwarfed by the one after students had presented; all 350 people in the room could sense their enthusiasm for what they have learned and could see how the “Design Engineer Construct!” programme has the potential to change how we bring people in to the industry.

 

Luke, Brad and Daniel of A Class of Your Own presenting

There was main contractors, sub contractors, design consultants and industry specialists all rubbing shoulders with client organisations such as East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Northern Rail and Yorkshire Water; it is hard to imagine a more diverse group of people gathering, talking and celebrating. Speaking with Mark Randerson of SH Structures, he told me that the awards are a crucial part of marketing their business; they design, install and manufacture steel structures, but not the standard stuff, they do the work where you look and wonder “just how on earth did they do that”. When they try to get on the supplier list for main contractors they struggle as procurement departments say “we have 6 people on the list, we don’t need anyone else”. When as Mark said, “all I want is for people to remember us when they need to deliver the out of the ordinary”, the awards help as people know that they are the company that won this award, was nominated for that award or completed projects that change local landscapes such as The Kelpies. Procurement may have six people on their list, but there probably aren’t six companies in the country that can deliver projects of the nature that specialists such as SH can.

Above all it changed perceptions and proved that every project being delivered by every organisation has scope to do something amazing and break new ground. Lovell won the award for Health and Safety on their Hull re-roofs project demonstrating that glamour is not required. The Heritage award was won by East Riding of Yorkshire Council for their Sewerby Hall Access Project showing that a high profile and international brand is not essential while the Integration and Collaborative Working award went to Kier and the York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, marking how the focus of the property team remains on delivering the best facilities they can in the midst of the various wrangling’s and politics.

 

The Lovell team collecting their award

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council team collecting their award

It would be great to see more public bodies, housing schemes (low energy new builds perhaps?) and what some would say left field works represented next year and really spread the word of just what is being achieved behind so many office doors and site entrances.

For me, one thing is for sure and that our host for the evening, Amy Garcia, summed it up well when she said that “the future of the industry is in safe hands” after hearing Luke, Brad and Daniel of Class of Your Own speak. She’s right, especially if the news is as good in other regions as it is in this one…

Simon Owen

 

 

Shortlist announced for this year’s #ceyhawards

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ceyhawardstheshortlist

Shortlist announced for Constructing Excellence Yorkshire & Humber Awards 2015

A Stately home, an Eco Home development & a chapel garden, just a sample of some of the fantastic projects that have been shortlisted for this year’s Constructing Excellence in Yorkshire & Humber awards (#CEYHAWARDS).

Organised by the Centre for Knowledge Exchange at Leeds Beckett University, these awards are open to organisations, companies and project teams involved in delivering “excellence in construction” across 13 different categories, each one representing the core themes underpinning the Constructing Excellence movement & improvement agenda. Sponsored by Atlas Cloud, categories include integration & collaborative working, client of the year and new for 2015, BIM Project of the year.

Leading the way with nominations are A-one+ Integrated Services with five nominations closely followed by Carillion Morgan Sindall and Henry Boot Construction. We are thrilled to see more entries from smaller organisations this year and particular commendation must go to WGL Stoneclean, a Leeds based SME, who have been nominated in 3 separate categories. The full shortlist can be viewed on the #ceyhawards web page at the following link.

http://ckegroup.org/cexcellenceyh/?page_id=457

 

Atlas Cloud

The winners will be revealed at a gala presentation dinner on 17th July at the National Railway Museum in York. Over the last seven years the CEYHAWARDS have grown to be one of the highlights of the regional construction calendar & this year promises to be bigger than ever. We have already enjoyed a record number of submissions and look forward to welcoming around 350 construction professionals, representing a broad cross section of the construction industry, on the night itself to celebrate the very best that our sector has to offer. Atlas Cloud CEO Pete Watson says

“We are delighted to support the Constructing Excellence Yorkshire and Humber Awards 2015, it’s a true celebration of the construction industry. Industry professionals are raising the bar on projects for clients and pioneering new ways of working such as BIM, with Yorkshire being one of the leading areas in the country. We are proud to be working with such leading, growing businesses operating more efficiently and productively through collaboration, communication and mobility”

Tables & individual places at the event can be booked at the following link and include a drinks reception, a three course gourmet dinner, the awards presentation and lots of entertainment thrown in too! The event is black tie but we are encouraging all our guests to wear an item of colour in their outfits, whether a bright scarf or colourful bow tie, to break up the black!

http://onlinestore.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=2&deptid=18&catid=41&prodid=411

 

new-DAY-logo

Our charity partner for this year will be Disability Action Yorkshire, a fantastic charity that provides services to improve the lives of disabled people.  These include residential care which trains younger adults in the skills required to live independently, care and support within people’s own homes, fully accessible holiday accommodation and training in the skills required for employment linked to a thriving social enterprise. Find out about them and support their work via http://www.disabilityactionyorkshire.org.uk/

 

With thanks to our sponsors

 

Sponsors-June2015