Judges Profile
Continued from p76 is embedded, not a one-off, that it’ s changed how the organisation works going forward.
Awards shouldn’ t just celebrate what’ s already been achieved, at their best they set a standard and show others what’ s possible.”
potential, creating clarity and trust, and bringing very different people together around a shared purpose. I often say construction is a team sport, no meaningful project or industry shift happens because of one person working alone.
2. What made you want to become involved as a judge for the Construction Awards of Excellence, and what does recognition mean to you within the industry?
I wanted to be involved because recognition, done properly, tells the industry what we value. Awards shouldn’ t just celebrate what’ s already been achieved, at their best they set a standard and show others what’ s possible.
Through founding the Building the Future Awards, I’ ve seen what happens when people who wouldn’ t normally put themselves forward feel seen and valued, it changes their confidence and their trajectory. Judging the Construction Awards of Excellence gives me another platform to do that. For me it’ s never just about the trophy, it’ s about highlighting excellence in a way that raises the bar for everyone watching.
3. Having judged awards that recognise emerging talent as well as organisations and projects, what qualities do you think separate a genuinely excellent entry from one that simply meets the criteria?
A good entry ticks the boxes. A genuinely excellent one tells you a story, what the challenge was, what the entrant did differently, and what changed as a result. The strongest entries pair that story with real evidence rather than a list of activities.
You can usually tell when an entry has been written to match the criteria rather than to reflect what actually happened. The best ones are honest about what was hard, what they learned, and how the team adapted, and they show that the excellence
4. Excellence in construction is often associated with technical delivery, but your work places a strong emphasis on leadership, people, collaboration and culture. How important are those qualities when you are assessing an award entry?
They’ re essential. Delivering one successful project is a real achievement, it takes genuine expertise. But sustained excellence is shown by an organisation’ s ability to perform consistently, under pressure and through change, and that comes down to leadership and culture, not just technical skill.
When I assess an entry I want to know how people were led. Was there real collaboration or just coordination? Were different voices heard? How were setbacks handled? A project can be delivered on time and on budget and still cost the team and the culture something, and that’ s worth asking about too.
5. From your perspective, how should the industry be recognising businesses that are investing in people, developing future talent and creating meaningful career opportunities?
We need to treat investment in people as a core measure of business excellence, not a nice-to-have alongside it. That means looking past headline numbers like apprenticeships announced, and asking what actually happens to people once they’ re in, real mentoring, genuine progression, real responsibility.
Through the Building the Future Awards, we’ re trying to build a clearer picture of what genuinely works, working alongside employers, colleges, universities and regional partners rather than treating this as something any one organisation can measure in isolation. The businesses that deserve recognition are the ones collaborating with schools, colleges and community organisations to widen access, not just running their own internal schemes and calling it done.
6. When judging very different categories and entries, how do you assess the balance between what has been delivered and how it has been delivered, particularly around leadership, teamwork, social value, innovation and long-term impact?
I tend to ask three things: what was delivered, how it was delivered, and what difference it’ s likely to leave behind. The
The businesses that deserve recognition are the ones collaborating with schools, colleges and community organisations to widen access, not just running their own internal schemes and calling it done.”
outcome tells you about competence. How it was delivered tells you about character, the quality of leadership, how the team worked together, how stakeholders were engaged.
Innovation has to be purposeful, solving a real problem rather than using new technology for its own sake, and social value needs to be genuine and evidenced, not a token activity. On long-term impact, I look for evidence of lasting or clearly anticipated legacy, recognising that a recent project may not have two years of hindsight behind it yet, but should still be able to show where that impact is heading.
7. From your experience through the Building the Future Awards, what have you learned about the ambitions and capabilities of the next generation of construction professionals?
They’ re more ambitious and capable than the industry sometimes gives them credit for. What I see consistently is a generation that wants purpose and progression, not just a job, and that’ s raising the standard for everyone.
The capability is absolutely there. What the industry has to get right is the opportunity, making sure the doors are genuinely open and the pathways are real. Through the Building the Future Awards I’ ve watched what happens when emerging talent is given a platform, their confidence grows, their networks expand, and employers see potential they might otherwise have overlooked. Our job isn’ t just to invite the next generation in, it’ s to give them room to lead.
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