SCF Celebrates Contractor Achievements with Annual Award Ceremony

You are here: / / SCF Celebrates Contractor Achievements with Annual Award Ceremony

SCF celebrates contractor achievements with annual award ceremony 

On the 29th May 2024, we welcomed contractors across the framework to Morgan Sindall’s Overbury offices in London to take part in our annual awards. This was not just a celebration of the individual achievements of contractors, but also how the framework has contributed collectively to SCF’s most successful first quarter to date.

Janara Singh, Assistant Framework Manager, opened the event, and spoke about the number of submissions for the awards and the significant achievements over the last generation, including the completion of five innovations.

Over the last year, SCF has welcomed new contractors including Bouygues UK, John Graham Construction, Tilbury Douglas, VINCI Construction and Bowmer & Kirkland, and has 39 total projects running through generation five, totalling £908m to date. We also have one project on site, and have achieved 13% added value, up 3% from generation four.

While our latest market intelligence report has found that build costs are continuing to rise, with an average increase of 2.3%, tender workload increased by an average of 3.2% in the first quarter of the year, showing pipelines are still relatively strong. SCF is therefore positive that despite challenges, once interest rates begin to decrease, contractors will see even greater success as the year continues.

Project of the Year: Winterstoke Hundred Academy (Kier)

Contractor of the Year: Kier

Positive Environmental Legacy Award: Winterstoke Hundred Academy (Kier)

PreviousNext
123

The first award, presented by Adam Sanford was Project of the Year, for Kier’s Winterstoke Hundred Academy expansion, a joint secondary school project between North Somerset Council and Kier Group. Taking place during the pandemic, this faced various challenges throughout, including an uneven site with differing storey heights. This required an innovative solution including split building design, with a retaining wall and a separate sports building. This was also awarded the Positive Environmental Legacy award, achieving a biodiversity net gain of 30%, incorporating native planting and compensatory habitat schemes.

The SCF team was particularly impressed by the project’s approach to social value, delivering various benefits including 376 waged training weeks on-site, 39 qualifications earned, 29 work placements, 22 new jobs created, 45 hours of volunteering, and 20 career and guidance events. Kier also received the Contractor of the Year award.

Social Value Innovation: Knowledge Quad – Morgan Sindall

Second up was the Social Value Innovation Award, awarded to Morgan Sindall for their Knowledge Quad, a multi-purposed training and learning facility based onsite at Paddington Village. This innovation created facilities for classroom, digital and outdoor learning, enabling users to develop a range of skills to support both personal and professional development.

Supply Chain Partner of the Year (South East): Snashall Steel Fabrications

Supply chain partner of the year South East was awarded to Snashall Steel Fabrications with Galliford Try for its Silverwood project, a new mental health inpatient hospital in Chertsey for Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. While the project faced many challenges, including being redesigned at PCSA to meet the client’s funding cap, and further design changes, the subcontractor over-performed by purchasing the steel in advance of their subcontract order, helping to mitigate a 25 – 20% price increase. A significant achievement, given current cost pressures.

Supply Chain Partner of the Year (South West): J G Bricklaying

In the South West, the supply chain partner of the year award was given to J G Bricklaying with Willmott Dixon. For this project, the subcontractor was tasked with delivering a £1.1m brickwork package on a historically listed building, which brought varying technical challenges. A precision approach was needed to delicately protect the building’s history. The team also actively worked with their main contractor to provide best value and feature masonry to an excellent standard.

Integrated Team of the Year: Hopescourt (Willmott Dixon)

Integrated team of the year was presented by Senior Framework Manager, Matthew Elliott, and awarded to Willmott Dixon, Surrey County Council, Bourne Education Trust, HNW Architects, CMB Mechanical & Phaze Electrica for Hopecourt School in Surrey. Matthew explained that the school was initially procured based on volumetric construction with a single source partner who went into administration. The Integrated team then decided to move away from this method, meaning the design needed to be altered. Despite the project being submitted ten weeks later than planned, the team managed to get close to the client budget by delivering a Net Zero in Operation building for £23.4m.

Best Added Value Initiative: HIWFRS Live Fire Training Facility (Morgan Sindall)

Best Added Value Initiative was awarded to Morgan Sindall for their contribution on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire service’s training facility. A three-storey building was constructed, allowing firefighters to tackle real fires. It contains multiple rooms for specific training exercises, to better prepare teams for dangerous, real-life situations

Health and Safety: 300 Harrow Road (Willmott Dixon)

With construction being one of the most dangerous industries, with the Health and Safety Executive showing that 45 building workers died on the job in 2023/23, the ceremony would not have been complete without the Health and Safety Award. Presented by Eleanor Thomas, Senior Co-ordinator, (South West), this was awarded to Willmott Dixon, for their work on Harrow Road, a mixed-use development based in Westminster. Being a tight site with vertical construction volumes, this created high risk due to working at height. Willmott Dixon focused on controlled lifting operations and created safe lifting zones and corridors, while installing safety alarms and safe zoning.

Best Newcomer: Tilbury Douglas

An award for best newcomer of the year was presented to Tilbury Douglas by Yash Gore, Assistant Framework Manager at SCF. The contractor was recognised for achieving a great bidding rate across the South West, while Framework Director Dean Lee was given special mention for his efforts to introduce staff to the wider SCF team.

A string of awards was also given to individuals, including Director of the Year, awarded to Sean Bradley from Morgan Sindall. Framework Account Manager was also awarded to Rob Walker for his involvement in both working groups and framework account manager sessions and his continued and unwavering engagement.

Both Angela Purse from Galliford Try and Darren Birch of BAM received special recognition awards for being positive to work with, collaborative with other contractors and for making good progress on innovations from the bid for SCF 5.

Director of the Year: Sean Bradley (Morgan Sindall)

Framework Account Manager of the Year: Rob Walker (Vinci)

Special Recognition: Angela Purse (Galliford Try)

Special Recognition: Darren Birch (BAM)

Award received by Phil Bailey on Darren’s behalf

“It’s been fantastic to reflect and look back through the submissions. Morgan Sindall’s Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service project was particularly notable. I knew people who worked on the same shift as two firefighters who sadly lost their lives in a high-rise fire in Southampton. The changes that this has prompted in terms of MEP installations has been fantastic to see.

“Construction can be a dangerous industry, but it’s great to have been able to collectively deliver the best and safest buildings that we possibly can and collectively create positive impact within the industry.”

How does technology support a blueprint for mental wellbeing in constructio...Annual Report 2023-2024