Awards round up

National Training Award rewards fine example of training
May Gurney was one of 55 organisations from around the UK to receive their National Training Award at a gala ceremony at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel on 13 December.

The award was for the TIPS for Good Management programme, which aims to improve effectiveness and competitiveness while reducing costs. The programme's achievements include introducing time management techniques to free up time to win new business worth £600,000, and reducing the cost of concrete waste from driven piles by £250,000 by improving process techniques. The total business benefits to date have been identified as worth £1.7m.

The National Training Awards celebrate organisations and individuals that achieve outstanding success through training. They are run on behalf of the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills by UK Skills, a not-for-profit organisation championing vocational skills and learning for work.

Sports presenter Sue Barker, who presented the awards, said: "Anyone can train, just as in sport, but the only way you are going to reap the rewards is if you're committed to developing new skills and putting them into practice. The winners have done just that and can feel very proud of what they have achieved."

Parliamentary Undersecretary for Skills, David Lammy MP, said: "Skills are the key to meeting ambitions for people, businesses and the nation as a whole. Training is the key to unlocking the skills potential of our greatest resource - our people. I applaud these employers for making training their priority, and urge more of our companies to follow their example."

For more information about the National Training Awards click here.

In the frame for FOUR QIC Awards
May Gurney has been short listed for four of the prestigious Quality in Construction (QIC) Awards, which encourage innovation, management best practice and teamwork in the construction industry.

Competition is fierce for the QIC Awards, which are organised by Construction News - and even getting onto the shortlist is a major achievement.

The short listings are as follows:
Health & safety management - for the MAD behavioural change programme, which has been instrumental in driving down the company's AFR and making it as safe to work at May Gurney as it is in a bank.

Project up to £5m - for the Helford first time sewerage scheme in Cornwall for South West Water. At the end of the project villagers were so pleased that they laid on a party for the project team.

Project £5-50m - for the Attleborough A11 Bypass, the first Highways Agency ECI project in eastern England, which was completed ahead of schedule and within budget in February 2007.

Project safety - again for the Attleborough A11 Bypass, where 250,000 man-hours were worked without a reportable accident - giving the whole project a remarkable ZERO AFR.

The awards will be presented on 31 March 2008 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.

Sarah Buck, IStructE President, presenting the commendation to Neil Harrison on 27 November

IStructE award for rail project
The environmentally sensitive Foss Dyke rail embankment project has been awarded a commendation in the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) East Anglian Branch Awards for Structural Excellence.

The project, to repair part of the embankment between the railway and Foss Dyke Canal, formed part of Network Rail's LNE Territory Structures and Earthworks Framework Contract. It was carried out in spring 2006 by May Gurney in partnership with Salix River & Wetland Services.

The embankment had suffered from significant erosion over the years, and the challenge was to restore and strengthen the banking, while taking into account wildlife.

As part of the works, overhanging trees and vegetation were removed. Brushwood faggots were then topped with coir rolls and staked in position along the toe of the embankment. The area behind was then filled with brushwood, which was wired in place and topped with coir mattresses, which came pre-planted with aquatic vegetation to ensure rapid establishment.

Neil Harrison, Senior Design Engineer - May Gurney, explains: "The original design (by another consultant) proposed installing steel sheet piles along the embankment toe. We reviewed this and came up with the alternative solution using coir rolls and faggots, which gave significant environmental, cost and time benefits."

Double short-listing in Ground Engineering Awards
May Gurney has been short listed for two categories in the inaugural 2008 Ground Engineering Awards.

The first short-listing, in the Health & Safety category, is for achieving a zero accidents/incident rate on a piling project at Cranfield Mill, Ipswich Marina.

The second short listing is for site investigation work carried out on rail embankments for Network Rail in its Western Territory. The project is short listed in the Projects under £1m category.

The Ground Engineering Awards ceremony will be held at the Royal Garden House Hotel, Kensington, London on 15 February.