JUDGES

Judges are selected from major clients and industry figures and contribute valuable time and effort to work through hundreds of entries, reviewing against strict criteria and attributing scores aimed at rewarding and recognising the very best of the construction industry.

Take a look at some of the judges confirmed for this year's panel. More judges will be announced in due course.

managing director
Accenture
senior business director
Arcadis

A previous winner of a CN Award, Tej is a Senior Business Director at Arcadis Consulting U.K. Having been in the industry for 25 years, Tej has experience leading a wide range of major Infrastructure projects and teams in various sectors and currently leads the Arcadis Highways & Aviation Consultancy Business, delivering multi-disciplinary services for a wide range of clients across U.K. & Ireland.

director of operations
Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Alison has extensive experience in both strategic leadership of projects and operational implementation. She has 25years experience in the water and environmental sector and since 2018 is Director of Project Delivery in Infrastructure and Projects Authority in the Cabinet Office where her portfolio is Public and Security Services including joint lead with Government Digital Service on functional support for all government Transformation programmes. Alison leads the Cabinet Office response to Project Speed in the areas of social infrastructure build and is lead Director on Net Zero and Sustainable Development Goals for the whole Government Major Projects Portfolio. Alison is a graduate of the government’s Major Projects Leadership Academy and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. She was awarded a CBE for services to the environment, New Year’s Honours 2019. She lives on the North Downs with her family and her dog.

infrastructure pipeline programme director
TfGM

As Head of Projects for Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), Chris Barnes is responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of an extensive portfolio of transportation schemes; including new transport interchanges, tram lines, cycling and walking infrastructure, bus priority routes and rail station enhancements.

During his 20-year career at TfGM, Chris has overseen the design, construction and opening of many new transport schemes, including the new £350 million Trafford Park Line Metrolink extension; the £48 million Bolton Interchange, which relocated the town’s bus station to a new site adjacent to its railway station, connecting the facilities via a pedestrian skylink bridge; and the £19 million remodelling of Altrincham Interchange, which provided rail, tram, bus and taxi passenger infrastructure as well as a cycling hub, as part of a truly integrated multi-modal transport facility. He is passionate about delivering facilities which make a positive contribution to the communities that they serve.

Chris is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association for Project Management.

director of partnership
Stride Treglown

Rachel Bell is an Architect, and Director of Partnerships at Stride Treglown.

Beyond her day job, Rachel supports numerous initiatives encouraging a more inclusive construction industry for the future. She is a mentor through the Mentoring Circle and a director for Women in Property limited.

‘Stand Tall’ is her mantra – something she encourages everyone to do.

Season 3 of her Stand Tall podcast highlights others stepping up and leading the way in their field. https://stridetreglown.com/stand-tall-with-rachel-bell/ 

director
8build

Nigel is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and has over 42 years’ experience working for major contractors in the UK and Asia, including ISG and Costain. In 2005 Nigel co-founded 8build, with a passion and commitment to ensuring the business provides a first-class service to its customers, 8build has grown steadily year-on-year and now has busy offices in London, Cambridge and Singapore. In his spare time Nigel is a keen badminton player and a 3rd Dan Master and instructor in the martial art of Tang Soo Do. He also acts as a mentor for Volunteering Matters, helping young adults leaving the care system transition into mainstream life.

head of digital, property and buildings
WSP

Michael has over 20 years’ experience in project delivery and managing digital advisory teams supporting clients achieve their digital aspirations. As Head of Digital for WSPs Property & Buildings, Michael is responsible for defining the digital and technology strategy and roadmap within the Property & Buildings business.

development director
Major Projects Association

Manon is the Development Director of the Major Projects Association the purpose of which is to improve the initiation and delivery of major projects. Over the past 19 years Manon has been involved in every aspect of delivering that vision: from the production of thought leadership publications to the development of the Major Project Knowledge Hub. She has a keen understanding of the barriers to major project success. Her knowledge of the systemic issues underlying the root causes of major project delivery and initiation is founded on more than a decade of involvement with members, PhD researchers and communication with members throughout the supply chain. This knowledge led her to establish the Major Projects Association’s Diversity and Inclusion initiative which frames the issue of diversity as a challenge for the whole sector to improve performance. Through this approach the Association has been able to engage a group of business leaders in a tough conversation, enabling them to take ownership of their own responses. In this capacity Manon has played a key role within diversity initiatives across infrastructure, engineering and major projects sectors. Manon is also a competitive drug-free powerlifter. In the 20 years that she has been competing she has won 13 World Championships, 9 European Championships and held 8 World Records and a host of British titles and records. She is the current bench-press World Record holder in her age and weight category.

framework manager
Kier Construction

Framework Manager for Kier Construction, assisting in the strategic management of national frameworks. Experienced Construction professional with Fellowship of the CIOB, worked for 3 Tier 1 contractors and a major public sector framework, helping co-ordinate a range of construction projects in the UK to successful completion. Trained as a Quantity Surveyor and award winning social value practitioner.

CEO and founder
Paperless Construction

Raymond is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 25 years of experience in construction project management and digital transformation; his career has expanded over several industries, including rail, marine, highways, renewable energy, and construction tech. Raymond worked his way up from an entry-level civil engineer to managing complex renewable energy mega projects and spearheaded the digital transformation on various projects, frameworks and a multibillion pound alliance where he lead the implementation of various digital tools for HSQE, 4D planning and Control Rooms. He is also the founder of Paperless Construction and SitePics and is passionate about innovation and business improvement and create safer working environments and a sustainable future for his clients.

executive managing director
Wates Construction Group

Paul’s expertise has been shaped across a construction career over nearly 40 years, notable for delivering profitable growth, together with leadership of businesses that have delivered some of the industry’s most recognisable and iconic projects and programmes. Since joining Wates in 2017, Paul has overseen a period of profitable growth within the Wates Construction Group. As part of implementing the Wates Group’s 2025 strategy , Paul and his team have driven significant geographical and sector expansion for both Wates Construction and SES Engineering Services. Paul is passionate about creating an inclusive workforce and sponsors diversity and inclusion across the Wates Group as well as the Mental Health and Allies Network. He is also a Wates supporter for the Young Women’s Trust and represents Wates on the Construction Leadership Council.

performance and improvement director
SCAPE / Construction Waste Portal

Chris Clarke joined SCAPE in 2015, with over 14 years of diverse public sector experience. Chris is responsible for environmental and social value policy and performance measurement, as well as providing strategic input into product and service developments. Chris is also Director of the Construction Waste Portal; SCAPE’s unique online analytics service helping cut the cost and carbon of waste in construction and civil engineering projects.

Chris is a steering group member for the Construction Leadership Council’s Carbon Reduction Code and co-convenes the sustainability group at the National Association of Construction Frameworks.


framework operations lead
Southern Construction Framework

Kingsley heads the SCF team in the South west region is the Vice Chair of CESW, a regional representative of the National Association of Construction Frameworks and a Director of the JCT Board (representing the Local Government Association). In his role with SCF He’s accountable for generating and overseeing the successful delivery of the South West pipeline of work helping clients to deliver projects ranging from £1m to £256million. Having supported over £2billion of construction procurement Kingsley has industry leading experience delivering capital construction and maintenance projects for the public sector including central Government, local authorities and higher education institutions.

managing director
DJC Bridge Consultants

David has worked on major infrastructure projects worldwide in Client, Contractor and Consultant roles with a particular emphasis on long span bridges. This included senior roles on the Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong, Storebaelt East Bridge in Denmark, Jiangyin Bridge in China and the Second Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the USA. From 2010 to 2017 he was Project Director and Employer's Representative for Transport Scotland on the £1.35 billion Forth Replacement Crossing project including the Queensferry Crossing. He is currently a self-employed Consultant providing advice on major infrastructure projects to Clients and Contractors around the world.

director
Tetra Tech

Cathy is Head of Land Quality (South) at Tetra Tech with over 25 years’ experience in environmental consultancy across a range of sectors. Cathy is a Chartered Environmental Scientist and specialises in contaminated land.

founding partner
Costa + Wolf

Andy Costa founded COSTA + WOLF a design agency focussed on ethical and community architecture, design mentoring and client advisory services. Andy has honed his expertise over 30 years’ incorporating his knowledge and skills with best practice across a broad range of projects.

COSTA + WOLF founders have a reputation for high quality, ecological and sustainable design combined with innovative thinking to aid clients and projects through the complex challenges of the design phases, planning processes and working to realise these with construction partners. Our community architecture works with local communities and people to help them navigate often complex planning and architectural schemes via our community outreach organisation Urban Voices.

Andy has designed and completed award winning projects and been a trusted advisor to national and international developers, public sector clients and private sector developers. He is a Civic Trust Awards Regional Assessor and has judged several awards from low carbon project of the year, international project of the year and the London Housing awards.

Andy is a qualified chartered architect in the UK, in Cyprus and in the Netherlands. He is a member of several architectural societies including the C20th Society, the Academy of Urbanism and is a Fellow of the RSA. He was chair of trustees for an architectural charity and has also founded an international ecological resource centre for a more sustainable planet.

head of health & wellbeing
Murphy
head of IT business solutions
Graham Construction
national partnerships manager
Donaldson Timber Systems

A strategic national partnerships manager with over 7 years of executive experience in offsite construction and modern methods of construction. Her career in the construction industry started with a start-up in the modular industry, a timber-based residential volumetric manufacturer that gave her a solid grounding in the sector. Moving on to a well-established, steel based cross sector volumetric manufacturer, and after a short time with the company decided to go freelance until she found the right role that matched her values.

In 2021 Gemma Joined the leading offsite timber systems manufacturer Donaldson Timber Systems, specialising in the supply and construction of sustainable, state-of-the-art open and closed panel offsite timber frames.

“I found the company’s approach to people, place and product aligned with my own values on helping to combat the housing crisis we face, through partnerships, knowledge sharing and collaboration – all the while reflecting the government’s construction playbook in involving the supply chain early in the project lifecycle to reduce downstream issues and help deliver clear, outcome-focused designs and specifications”

She believes that the three-fold benefits of using offsite timber frame – low energy demand, carbon neutral raw material, and a proven, reliable, cost-effective mainstream way of building high quality energy-efficient homes – are vital to creating sustainable, resilient, and affordable developments for the future.

Gemma recognises the need for the public sector to work collaboratively with the supply chain, ensuring early engagement to ensure value for money every step of the way and by creating strong partnerships this gives the ability to make informed choices when exploring offsite solutions through knowledge sharing. This in turn provides an understanding of what is needed to see the full benefits of offsite.

Her goal is to truly make a difference in how we build our homes in the most socially responsible and sustainable way.

professional head buildings and architecture
Network Rail

As Professional Head Buildings and Architecture Anthony is responsible for setting the strategic direction of Network Rail’s Built environment covering all elements of design including Architecture and Civil Engineering. He is responsible for Network Rail’s national standards, policies, new technology and international benchmarking for all Network Rails built environment assets. He has led on elevating the importance of design within rail infrastructure and his notable achievements include forming the Network Rail (NR) independent design panel, development of NR design principles, reinvigorating NR’s design approach via design competitions and introduction of built environment design guidance. An experienced transport professional, Anthony has over 20 years of industry experience and a proven track record in asset management, programme engineering and project development within government, client, consultant, contracting and risk environments in the UK and Europe. Anthony has spent his career in a number of private sector bodies including working as a consultant for Jacobs Babtie, Louis Berger Inc and Railtrack; as well as a number of public sector bodies including Network Rail and Network Rail (High Speed) where he was the Head of Civil Engineering and Environment on HS1. Anthony is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Society of Arts. He is as a member of the National Infrastructure Commission Design Group and New London Architecture Transport and Infrastructure Expert Panel.

director of legal & business
ECA

Rob is a solicitor and mediator with an M&E background. He has experience from private practice law firms and in-house teams. Rob has risen through the ranks to director level leading teams in policy, business and law for over two decades.

Rob has dealt with over 4000 designers, suppliers, installers or service and maintenance (FM) operators in the engineering services sector and regularly advised consultants.

• CN Talent 2019 Mentor of the Year, EDI Leader of the Year and Role Model 2018/19 UKCW.

• Founder of the LHON Society charity and the Process Innovation Factory.

• Chairs the Payment Group of the SME advisory panel to Crown Commercial Services/Cabinet Office

• CLC Business Models on digital/smart contracts, retentions, payment and contractual fair practice

managing director of strategic estates
UK Parliament

As Managing Director of Strategic Estates, Chris is responsible for the strategic management of the parliamentary estate and related infrastructure. The Strategic Estates team provides a service to both the House of Commons and House of Lords, this encompasses a broad set of responsibilities, including the delivery of construction projects, the provision of specialist planning and design support, and the care and development of our internationally significant heritage collections, among others. As Managing Director, Chris is responsible for leading a team of approximately 400 colleagues in addition to contractors and suppliers working across all strategic estates activity. Chris has most recently been Capital Delivery Director for Jaguar Land Rover, leading capital delivery programmes to deliver new buildings and infrastructure required to support growth. Prior to that, from 2015 to 2022, Chris was Jaguar Land Rover’s Global Property Director, accountable for global corporate real estate and non-manufacturing property capital investment programmes. Before joining Jaguar Land Rover in 2015, Chris spent 17 years in the aviation sector, primarily at Heathrow Airport, where he held a number of roles including Programme Director for infrastructure, Programme Sponsorship Director and Procurement Director for the capital investment programme.

vice president
Royal Town Planning Institute
head of safety system integration
Jacobs - Sizewell C

Steven started his career as an electrical apprentice for British Rail. After several years on the tools, Steven moved into the Health & Safety discipline. Following 10 years with British Rail he moved into the construction sector working for Lovell Construction, Sir Robert McAlpline, Skanska and Arup, including 6 years on the construction of High Speed 1 between Folkestone and St.Pancras station in London.

Following this, over an 8 year period, Steven held several senior leadership roles for Network Rail on major projects and as Head of Health & Safety for their national projects business. In January 2015, Steven joined High Speed 2 where he held Senior positions responsible for managing and overseeing the Client HSS delivery teams in supporting the Civils, Stations and Railway Systems contracts. After 9 years, Steven left HS2 and recently joined Jacobs, taking up the Head of Safety System Integration on the multi billion pound Sizewell C project.

Steven has a Masters Degree from Leicester University in Health & Safety Management, with a special interest in behavioural safety programmes.


director
Henry Boot Construction

Craig has been shaping construction solutions in the public and private sectors for 27 years.

He is an Engineering Graduate of The University of Aberdeen and has delivered projects within the built environment here in the UK and overseas.

A Board Director at Henry Boot Construction, Craig brings high-performing multi-disciplinary teams to clients looking for progressive design and construct services. Craig is active across a diverse range of forums and promotes industry transformation and sustainable development. 

technical director
WSP

Gill has over 35 years’ experience in the delivery of highway and traffic management schemes across London and the South of England. She is a Service Line Director at WSP within Communities business unit. She leads Local Authority Commissions in the east and southeast and multi discipline teams and prides herself on her people skills to help reach their full potential and feel empowered in what they do and the decisions they make. She enjoys creating and building inclusive collaborative environments to deliver projects and has a role in developing new business and major bids in the highways/transportation sector. She is a Chartered Manager through the CMI, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and a member of the Association for Project Management.

executive managing director
Sir Robert McAlpine

Tony joined SRM in 2017 and the Board in 2023. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a Fellow of the ICE and the CIHT. His portfolio includes Align, a JV delivering HS2 C1; AmeySRM delivering highways projects; a 17-year Sellafield projects framework; and our DBFO roads – the A19 and the A74(M). Tony has international experience in the UK and Canada including Highways, Rail, Healthcare, Nuclear, Defence, Marine and Telecoms. He thrives on building long-term client relationships, engaged teams and growing businesses. Tony is a non-Executive Adviser to InTouch (an SME), a Board Director of LCI-UK and Chair of the Project 13 Supplier Community.

director
Propetual

Originally a Chartered Engineer and Main Contractor, I have also held Project Management positions and since 2016 was in a Client role for Grosvenor. That all changed at the end of 2023, as I left full time employment to start my own business - Propetual - helping developments be more sustainable and efficient with resources with focus on tech, innovation and the circular economy. I’m really keen to use my experience across the industry to help change the way we design and construct our buildings, ensuring they are optimally designed for their entire life. Long term thinking is crucial to achieving better, more efficient and less wasteful buildings. I advocate a clear ambition from the outset which is essential if a project team are going to buy into that vision and overcome any challenges together. I write a regular newsletter on all things sustainable development and also organise the Circular Steel event.

operations director
Macro
director
Grafton
senior independent director
Corserv

Julia is Non-Executive and Senior Independent Director and Chair in a range of real estate and infrastructure construction companies’ Boards, with almost three decades of fostering unprecedented growth for private, public and charitable organisations through strategic leadership and transformational change. She spent her executive career working with global companies such as BAA, Ferrovial and GIP, as well as driving forward major Government Projects such as a new Garden City. Julia is known for striking the right balance between challenge and support, facilitating optimal decision-making and enabling businesses to achieve organisational and cultural change, overcome regulatory obstacles, enhance financial stability and mitigate critical risks. By appreciating the bigger picture and different points of view, she brings a fresh, holistic viewpoint to investment, real estate, infrastructure, utilities and renewables, risk management, compliance and governance frameworks, ESG, D&I and stakeholder engagement, as well as partnership creation, development and investment. In 2022, Julia was awarded a lifetime achievement award for Women in Business.

professor of Edinburgh Napier University and director of the Centre for Advanced Timber Technology
NMITE

Professor Hairstans is a creative thinker and accomplished collaborator. He works extensively with industry and external stakeholders to accelerate change in delivery towards MMC and net zero carbon. Robert has spent his career adding value to the construction supply chain and transferring knowledge outputs for maximum influence. He innovatively improves pathways for upskilling, conducts international knowledge exchanges and applies research into practice working with the sector. The 2nd edition of his book “Off-site and industrialised timber construction” is available via TRADA.

construction director, Infrastructure and Projects Authority
Cabinet Office

Professor David Hancock is a chartered engineer and the senior commercial advisor in the Cabinet Office providing construction and project support across Government. A graduate of the Major Projects Leadership Academy and a high-risk project reviewer. He chairs the Government Construction Community and sits on a variety of government boards and is non-executive chair of CIRIA. Renowned internationally as a leading thinker and practitioner in the field of behavioural risk. He has a Degree and PhD in engineering from the University of Nottingham alongside an MBA from Bath and is honorary professor at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL.

architect associate
BDP
emerging talent manager
VolkerFitzpatrick

I have been working in the construction industry for 16 years and I am passionate about inspiring young people to consider careers in construction. With the increasing demand for skilled workers in the construction industry, it is essential to encourage and support the next generation of construction professionals. My role at VolkerFitzpatrick is to recruit, train and mentor apprentices and graduates and help them develop their careers.

founding partner
Akerlof

Jamie is a Founding Partner at Akerlof - a leading management consultancy that specialises in applying smart, modern methods of construction (MMC) to deliver better outcomes. Formerly a Director responsible for major projects on behalf of the UK’s largest regional contractor, he is the author of the Choice Factory, advocating the application of behavioural science to realise industry transformation. More recently, he had supported the development of policy within central Government, authored MMC strategies at a departmental level as well working with the private sector.

development manager
MEPC

Alex Housden is a Development Manager for MEPC, having 17 years’ experience in the built environment across several sectors including urban regeneration, commercial property, residential, higher education and transport developments.

technical advisor - construction & utilities
City & Guilds

Jason is a Technical Advisor for Construction, the Built Environment and Green Skills at City & Guilds. Jason began his construction journey like most others, as an apprentice in Site Carpentry. His apprenticeship and construction career began with a local building company who mainly served a beautiful and rural part of Co. Durham known as Weardale. Following his apprenticeship Jason pursued the dream of starting his own Carpentry & Construction company serving his local area, whilst also experiencing the industry on national and international contracts. Jason then progressed into the world of further education starting as an assessor working his way up to position of MD of a training organisation. After 14 years in FE Jason then embarked on another dream to work for City & Guilds and joined them in early 2020. Where he works as a TA. Jason also volunteers his services to a local primary school delivery woodwork class to the children.

associate director of digital strategic advisory
CBRE
projects director
Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Sara is a senior commercial lawyer working as a Projects Director within the Commercial Adviser Team at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority. She is the Mega-project lead in IPA for the New Hospitals Programme . Previously she was deployed at Welsh Government as the Programme Director for the Sustainable Communities for Learning MIM Programme where she developed, structured procured and delivered a strategic partner named the Welsh Education Partnership Company (WEPCo) to facilitate the delivery of a £1.5 Billion pipeline of revenue funded net zero carbon educational infrastructure using the Mutual Investment Model (an off-government debt PPP model). The first MIM schools project in Flintshire (a net zero carbon 1300 place 3-16 school) reached financial close in November 2022. Prior to that, Sara delivered a twelve school batch in the North West under the PF2 arm of the Priority School Building Programme as Project Director and Commercial Lead for the DFE . Earlier in her career Sara worked in private practice where she acted for private and public sector clients and funders on major PPP projects across the education, health, waste and social housing sectors. Relevant Experience includes: Structuring procuring and delivering major and complex programmes and projects; Construction and contracting in the accommodation sector, (including Net Zero Carbon specification) Delivering social value through contracting, PPP, PFI, Commercial Law, Procurement (particularly Competitive Dialogue), technical specification drafting, Property and planning, Classification.

digital leader - major infrastructure programmes
Laing O’Rourke
managing director - EMEA
Cohesive

Jon is the Managing Director (EMEA) at Cohesive - a digital advisory and data business. Prior to that, Jon held senior leadership roles at a number of organisations including Heathrow Airport and High Speed 2. Jon holds a Master’s degree in Business and Management and is a Chartered IT Professional. His career to date has primarily focused on software development, systems architecture, integration, data management, information management and strategic advice across multiple sectors.

principal
Madeleine Kessler Architecture

Madeleine is an architect, curator, and urban designer dedicated to designing joyful people-centred places that contribute positively to our planet. Over the past decade she has led a number of award-winning experimental projects including the co-curation of the British Pavilion at the 17th International Venice Architecture Biennale. Trained as an architect and engineer, Madeleine sits on the National Infrastructure Commission’s Design Group and is a Design Review Panel Member for Islington, Ebbsfleet and Thanet. She is an External Examiner for the ARB, Associate Lecturer at Central St Martin’s, and previously a Visiting Professor at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. She has won a number of awards including the RIBA Rising Star Award and Architects' Journal's 40 under 40.

outcomes director, Lower Thames Crossing
National Highways

Andrew is leading National Highways’ approach to the decarbonisation of the Lower Thames Crossing. He is demonstrating that deep decarbonisation of infrastructure construction is possible today and making the project a pathfinder for the industry. Andrew has twenty years’ experience in delivering capital investment in infrastructure in both the public and private sector. He has held senior leadership roles in multi-£bn transport programmes and has supported both project and business leaders as an advisor.

head of consulting
LDNY People

Emily is a construction and offsite consultant advocating DfMAD and Industrialisation as methods to achieve a more efficient, values driven, net zero, future for our construction industry. Emily has been the Managing Director of an offsite contractor delivering across multiple public sector frameworks, and the Client Solutions Director for an integrator specialising in DFMAD and maximising offsite processes. Emily is a Director of the Offsite Alliance. Emily’s interest in the world of Offsite started when she worked at Portakabin, heading up their education work on the first MMC framework for the Department for Education. She has also previously held roles for leading construction consultants; Arup and Mott MacDonald.

South director
Federation of Master Builders

Iain joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in August 2023 as their new South Hub Director. His role seems him supporting and representing the region’s 1,800 Master Builders and working with key industry stakeholders to ensure the issues that FMB members face in the region are recognised and considered. Prior to joining the FMB he was Senior Business Development Manager at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) where he worked with construction professionals to help them and their businesses achieve Chartered company membership as well as access training and development opportunities. A big believer and champion of CPD and ongoing learning, Iain is a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and also holds Leader grade membership (L.ISP) with the Institute of Sales Professionals.

project director – orthopaedic centre of excellence
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Sally has worked as a project manager for over 20 years in the NHS. She oversaw the planning, design, construction and delivery of a £160m new Cancer Centre at Guy’s, winning industry awards including RIBA London, European Healthcare Design, London Civil Engineering awards and the Health Business Awards. She is now responsible for overseeing the expansion programme for Evelina London Children’s Healthcare, which is the second largest provider of children’s services in London.

senior business development manager
Onwave
head of construction research
Construction Products Association

Rebecca has been on the Economics team at the CPA for 10 years, where she manages the writing and publication of the Construction Industry Forecasts, as well as quarterly industry trade surveys. She specialises in the analysis of the commercial and industrial construction sectors.

project director
Far East Consortium

Scott Lau is a Chartered Project Director with over 20 years of experience in the built environment predominantly in central London from contractor to consultant through to developer. He is currently working for an international developer and operator of residential, hospitality, and commercial ventures. His key skills include construction advisory, structural engineering technical knowledge, programming and project management, leading and managing design teams, project initiation, feasibility studies and has delivered at all stages of RIBA.

head of projects
University of Cambridge

With a Contractor, Developer and Consultancy background, Andy has an impressive development record including the London 2012 Olympic venues, the ‘Cheesegrater’ and Heathrow Terminal 2. Andy has worked with a variety of industry leading clients, consultants and contractors; successfully delivering projects across the UK. He is now Head of Projects at the University of Cambridge, whose Estate is the largest estate in Higher Education with an existing 784,000 m2 built space within 345 teaching, research and operational buildings. The operational estate is valued at £3.7 billion and comprises a diverse range from Grade 1 Listed buildings to state-of-the-art laboratories.

partner
Rider Levett Bucknall
director of infrastructure, enterprise and growth
Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Jon is the Director of Infrastructure, Enterprise and Growth at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, (the government's centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects). He advises on project delivery across half of the government's major projects; his £350bn portfolio includes all major transport, industry, energy, housing, foreign affairs, environmental and digital.

Prior to joining the IPA, Jon spent ten years in executive roles within the utilities sector for Thames Water, BT Openreach and Clancy. Responsibilities included business strategy, transformation, capital programmes, operations, commercial, international supply chain and logistics. Jon pioneered long-term collaborative alliance contracts and behavioural procurement techniques, winning national awards as both Client of the Year and Supplier of the Year.

A chartered quantity surveyor, Jon spent the early part of his career successfully managing large construction and infrastructure projects and later in executive operational, commercial and procurement roles for two of the UK's largest and fastest growing tier 1 infrastructure businesses.

chief health, safety & wellbeing officer
Network Rail

I have spent my working life trying to improve health and safety for workers across numerous industries. I started with the Health and Safety Executive regulating Agriculture, Construction, Engineering and Gas Safety. I first became involved with Rail back in October 1999 a week before Ladbroke Grove and spent considerable time working for HMRI on this and subsequently Hatfield and Potters Bar investigations. Following stints helping the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury to improve workplace health and mental wellbeing, I joined The Office of Rail Regulation heading up the enforcement and investigation policy team. I am proud to have lead Network Rail HS&E teams in Kent and LNE Routes before in August 2015 I took on the role of Head of Corporate Workforce Safety where I focussed on the Vehicle Speed Warning System and Planning and Delivering Safe Work. I joined the Anglia Route in November 2017 focusing on developing and implementing a Route Health, Safety and Sustainability plan that was owned by everyone in the Route. I feel very lucky to be the Chief Health and Safety Officer for Network Rail. Our objective is very clear Everyone Home Safe Everyday be they our staff, passengers or members of the public who interact with our Railway

joint policy lead - national digital twin programme
Department for Business and Trade

Alexandra Luck is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, and a Member of the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists. She has a wealth of experience in issues pertaining to asset and risk management, digital engineering, management of information and security-minded approaches. Accumulating expertise through a number of engineering roles, Alexandra specialises in the development, implementation, management and auditing of polices and processes as well as the development and delivery of programmes within these disciplines. She is currently Head of the National Digital Twin Programme.

senior associate architect
HTA Design

Maribel is an Architect and Senior Associate at HTA Design. She has over 20 years of wide-ranging experience in the housing sector through all stages, specialising in urban residential developments and people-led urban design. Maribel aims for quality, beauty, and 'joy' to be central to what we build. Through her work she looks at tackling the current housing shortage sustainably and using modern methods of construction as a tool to do so. Maribel is an advocate for diversity and inclusion within the profession. She regularly takes part in public events, panel discussions, collaborates with trade journals and in university visiting crit.

engineering and digital director
Taylor Woodrow

Millan has over 25-years of experience leading design and construction of many large civil engineering projects such as highways and landmark bridges, along with a range of complex projects in the energy, water, environmental, rail, and urban development sectors. He joined Taylor Woodrow over 6 years ago as the company’s Engineering Director, architecting and driving the transformation of Taylor Woodrow into a benchmark engineering and digital firm. As a board member within Taylor Woodrow, he acts the overall lead for not only engineering in the broadest sense, but also digital operations, digital engineering, design and information management, and designers’ performance. His current remit has included the creation of the benchmark digital transformation strategy which has already been delivered within the first 2-year action plan. He has also introduced a dedicated engineering and digital training plan for all the company in partnership with major UK industry bodies. Millan has also been a forum member of i3P for 5 years, helping to shape the innovation in UK and having a key role in implementing the cultural change within the company.

director of development
ALDAU Development
director, digital and technology, Lower Thames Crossing
National Highways
construction director
Sellar
managing director
BGO
project manager
Equinix

"Ashley is an advocate for the advancement of technology and digital transformation of the industry. She led McLaren Group’s digital and data strategy and has delivered projects and strategic programmes in the private and public sectors; working in architecture, for main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine, and as a client advisor at Mott MacDonald and Equinix digital ventures.

As a member of Nima (formerly the UK BIM Alliance), an ambassador for net zero and women in construction, Ashley has presented at various industry events and conferences as well as contributing to several industry initiatives and publications, including the UK BIM Framework and the Golden Thread Initiative. She is looking forward to sharing her insight and industry experience with Construction News awards"

director for delivery performance and assurance - new hospitals programme
Department for Health and Social Care

Paul is a Chartered Civil Engineer and major programme delivery professional. Currently Director of Delivery Performance and Assurance on the multi-billion New Hospitals Programme, Paul has previously led capital programmes in the Environment Agency and Department for Education, and until recently was a Director in the Office of Government Property in the Cabinet Office. Paul has public and private sector experience across infrastructure, environment and sustainability, property and strategic estates.

engineering director - route wide
HS2
head of constructing excellence
BRE
deputy director, asset management systems
Environment Agency
project director
Landsec

Project Director for Landsec who has worked in the industry on many high profile schemes and in a variety of senior roles as contractor, consultant and client. These developments include the Imax cinema, Imperial College, British Museum, Terminal 5 and recently 21 Moorfields the new UK Headquarters for Deutsche Bank.

programme director
Lower Thames Crossing

Shaun is the Programme Director for Highways England’s Smart Motorway’s Programme, delivering a £4bn investment in the motorway network by upgrading over 400 miles of the existing strategic road network to Smart Motorway. Smart Motorways use technology alongside additional lane capacity to tackle congestion, improve capacity and enhance safety on the motorway network, at a fraction of the cost of building or widening the network Before joining Highways England Shaun led many major projects at Transport for London and delivered the Olympic Route Network, the Hammersmith Flyover, the Silvertown Tunnel, and the Cycle Superhighway programme. Shaun also has wide experience in the energy sector and can claim to have brought natural gas to Northern Ireland. He also worked on the £1.2bn In Salah Gas project, as well as the first gas and oil pipeline linking the Middle-east to Europe.

engagement manager
McKinsey & Company
head of projects
Far East Consortium

Nick joined Far East Consortium International Ltd (FEC) / Dorsett Hospitality International (DHI) with over 20 years in the construction industry, managing both residential, commercial and hotel projects from concept to completion. Prior to joining FEC, Nick worked for a blue-chip multinational conglomerate. Nick has both technical excellence and a hands-on approach, which has seen him leading teams to deliver some of the world’s tallest buildings and is currently taking the lead to deliver the group’s portfolio of projects in London.

global sustainability - places
Arcadis

Owen is passionate about accelerating the transition to make our built environment more sustainable in its creation and operation. He works to embed sustainability into Arcadis – in their operations and client offerings and projects. Focusing on the structures and environment for creating change, through setting goals and driving action, training, engagement and specific change projects. A management consultant by background, with a career spent advising clients on changing their organisations, focusing on people-led transformations, then moving into sustainability focused roles. Owen lives in London with family (two small children), but enjoys escaping for adventures in nature when possible! 

partner - head of strategic research and insight
Arcadis
project director
British Land

Arianna is a Project Director working on British Land’s 53-acre, Canada Water regeneration project. Prior to that Arianna worked as a development lead on landmark super prime residential scheme Clarges Mayfair and she was involved in the completion and launch of another British Land prime residential scheme, Hempel Gardens. Before joining British Land in 2014, Arianna got an MBA degree at London Business School in London after working for 4 years as an architect for award winning practice Allies and Morrison Architects.

chief executive
CRASH

Francesca Roberts is the Chief Executive of construction industry charity CRASH. Francesca started her career with BBC television before moving to the charitable sector. As CEO of International Refugee Trust (IRT) she spent 13 years working in refugee camps in Sudan, northern Uganda, Jordan, and the Thai Burma Border. In 2007 Francesca was appointed CEO of CRASH, a unique, practical charity that helps homelessness charities and hospices construct buildings that care for people. CRASH unites the industry to offer free of charge professional expertise, building materials and grants. With over 25 years of experience in the charitable sector, Francesca is passionate about intelligent partnerships between companies and charities, that creates meaningful social impact, and helps people for years to come.

head of construction - solar and storage
SSE plc

With a wealth of experience as a construction leader specializing in energy projects across the UK and Ireland for over two decades, I am a seasoned energy professional known for a commitment to team excellence and a strong track record of getting things done. Having spent a good part of my career in both National Grid and SSE Renewables I’m acutely aware of the challenge the energy sector faces in achieving a net zero energy system. My passion for delivering high-impact projects and driving innovation in the energy sector has been a driving force throughout my career. By combining strategic leadership with a hands-on approach, I have successfully led teams to achieve outstanding results and exceed project goals. I am dedicated to fostering a culture of construction excellence and supply chain collaboration, ensuring that we all consistently deliver high-quality work, drive positive outcomes, and get everyone home safe.

group environmental director
Costain

Geraint has worked in the environmental discipline for 20 years as a regulator, consultant and latterly at Costain as Group environmental Director. He has worked on many iconic Costain infrastructure projects including London Bridge Station, Crossrail and HS2. Geraint currently leads the delivery of Costain’s Climate Change Action Plan and Nature Positive ambition. He Chairs CECA’s environment group, is a chartered Environmentalist and full member of IEMA and CIWM.

MMC consultant
Akerlof
director
Turner & Townsend

IJ Samuel is an accomplished Director at Turner & Townsend. She is renowned for advising clients on programme management strategies and performance management of multi-billion-pound major projects and portfolios, delivering successful outcomes across diverse sectors. She is a culture enabler and ‘Inclusion disruptor’, constantly challenging unconscious bias, and promoting Diversity and Inclusion as an everyday reality. IJ actively advocates for diversity of leadership teams as a future currency for innovation, inclusive decision-making and long-term cultural change. She rolls up her sleeves to walk the talk and she is the visible change she wants to see. 

director of operations - interconnectors, UJVs
National Grid

As Director of Operations within National Grid Ventures, Phil is responsible for operating the UJV portfolio (IFA, IFA2, NSL and soon to include the Viking Link Interconnector to Denmark. Phil is a Civil Engineer starting his career in Oil and Gas with TechnipFMC working on North Sea Capital Projects. He then joined Severn Trent as Programme Engineer working on Water and Wastewater Capital Projects, before joining National Grid in 2016 where he has held various operational and management roles. Including Project Director for HS2, Head of Strategy for capital projects and Head of both UK Contracts and Project Controls. 

framework operations lead
Southern Construction Framework

Adam is Operations Lead at Southern Construction Framework, hosted by Hampshire County Council, representative at the National Association of Construction Frameworks. A chartered construction manager with extensive experience managing a diverse range of public sector projects and programmes, Adam has a strong belief in delivery through two-stage open book and collaborative partnerships, and efficiency through continuous improvement.

director major projects
Transport Scotland

With over 38 years’ engineering experience Lawrence is currently Transport Scotland’s Director of Major Projects. Responsible for the roads programme, including the £multibillion A9 and A96 Dualling projects, he is also Director of Purchasing. This follows various roles within Transport Scotland including Head of Rail Projects and Technical Services, with the most notable role being Project Manager for the iconic £1.35 billion Queensferry Crossing where Lawrence saw the project through from inception to completion over an 11 year period, and gained the Royal Academy of Engineering Major Projects Award in 2020 for his role. In his early career, Lawrence was a project manager with Thorburn Colquhoun, now AECOM, working extensively on the £multi million, 45 mile long A14 M1-A1 link road. Lawrence is actively involved with the Institution of Civil Engineers, having been Chair of ICE Scotland (2017/18) and Glasgow & West of Scotland (2014/15). He is also Transport Scotland’s Supervising Civil Engineer responsible for ICE graduate training.

director - head of digital innovation
WSP

Described as a pragmatic futurist, I'm driven to transform project delivery through innovative use of digital technologies and offsite manufacturing. By integrating artificial intelligence into interdisciplinary workflows, I aim to revolutionise how we approach design complexity and future challenges including net zero. My global team is actively engaged in delivering cutting-edge projects, collaborating with clients and contractors to harness the advantages of progressive manufacturing methods including kits of parts and platform approaches. Having qualified as an architect and with over 35 years of experience, I've played a key role in shaping industry standards, including being the lead author of the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 publications. Recently, I’ve contributed to the field with the publication of the RIBA Plan of Work 2020 Overview and the Security Overlay and contributed to the 2nd Edition of the DfMA Overlay. I've also authored multiple books emphasising design management and the crucial role of the lead designer in the digital age. I’m involved in many forums to help stimulate and drive change in the built environment industry. I am chair of the UK Construction Industry Council (CIC) Digital Forum, sit on the digital committee of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), chair the CB/1 committee for the British Standards Institute (BSI), and am an adviser on the Bridge AI steering committee.

portfolio director, development & ESG
M&G Real Estate
CEO
Stacx

Sam Stacey is a construction industry leader and writer on construction innovation. He has a unique perspective and a deep heritage in the built environment, having served on various boards, including the BRE, Construction Innovation Hub and Active Building Centre. He began his career at Buro Happold, and went on to specialize in Design Management and Innovation with Wates and Skanska. He combines technical know-how with degrees from some of the world’s leading universities. From 2018 to 2022 Sam led the highly acclaimed Construction Transformation Programme for the UK Government. Sam is currently Chairman of SustainCRE and CEO of Stacx International where he is working with governments, investors and innovators to improve the built environment.

head of public sector
Gleeds

As a member of the senior leadership team for international property and construction consultants, Gleeds, Jonathan is responsible for overseeing the business’ work in advisory services, the public sector and UK’s South East region. Jonathan has been central to the development of Gleeds’ education business over the past 20 years, with the team having worked on over £10 billion of projects. He has also advised local authorities and central government departments on strategy, procurement, commercial and efficiency opportunities using insight gained when on secondment with HM Treasury. Having overseen the delivery of over 200 PPP schemes, Jonathan has acted as a judge at the industry PPP Awards for the past 15 years. He is looking forward to working with Construction News and the other Judges to review the quality entries and identify the winners.

director
Omnia Freelance

Freelance Services in:

  • Market analysis
  • Procurement authoring and evaluation
  • Bid writing - PQQ and ITT support
  • Strategy activation (policies/procedures)
  • R&D Project Management
  • Accreditation support
  • Award submissions
  • Innovation Capture
  • Case Studies

Client references available on request

Highly successful 'win' record. Achieves results

Experience: Latterly specialising in driving the value proposition for SCAPE national procurement frameworks in the digital space, following on from 11 years experience working for Tier 1 contractor Balfour Beatty.

Experienced judging panel participant for various industry awards.

This is an excellent opportunity that allows me to continuously learn and expand my knowledge and awareness of: market trends, best practice, innovation, and supply chain performance expectations

project director
British Land

Lynn joined British Land as a Project Director within the development team in 2017. Since joining British Land, Lynn has led the development of a number of new build and refurbishment commercial office spaces in both central London and Cambridge. Lynn has recently led the delivery of British Land’s Norton Folgate development – a complex project, refurbishing, extending and constructing new buildings to provide 340,00sqft of new offices and retail space across 6 different building plots. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, Lynn started her career as a site engineer and spent the first 18 years working as a Main Contractor on major projects across the UK. With a background in project and preconstruction management she has worked in a wide variety of different sectors including; PFI schools, science laboratories, research centres, retail, leisure, residential and commercial offices. One of Lynn’s career highlights, of which she is particularly proud was to be a member of the team who delivered the RIBA Stirling prize winning Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge.

operational efficiency director
Skanska UK
industry manager – construction
City & Guilds

My 28 year career has been devoted to construction and I feel I have a real passion for the industry.  I started as a bricklaying apprentice from the age of 16 and spent 15 years in various roles including bricklayer, stone mason and site manager.  In 2010 I moved into the further education sector as a bricklaying assessor, I spent the next 12 years assessing, lecturing and eventually became Head of Studies.  In my current role as Industry Manager with City & Guilds I am enjoying working with industry specialist to shape the future qualifications of the industry.

partner
Knight Frank
senior associate director - information management
Jacobs
senior manager
Ernst & Young

Will’s focus is on achieving better outcomes for people and nature. In his previous role at the IPA he conceived and led the creation of Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030, and supported writing the Construction Playbook. He is now focussed on helping to translate the vision into practice in business consulting with EY, applying twenty years’ experience in infrastructure, across the contexts of project delivery, IT transformation, strategic advisory and government policy.

executive director
Quintain
digital delivery director
Costain
managing director
Coast Communications
programme director
Mace

Barbara joined Mace as a graduate civil engineer in 1997 and has delivered projects across many sectors of the construction and property industry. During her career she has lived in the UK, Hong Kong and Russia, from where she has worked on projects across a broad range of countries, from Macau to the Maldives and Singapore to Serbia. Before her current secondment to the Royal Household, Barbara was Mace’s regional director responsible for Western Europe and Global Clients.

In 2022, Barbara was named in the Cranfield School of Management ‘Women to Watch’ list, which identifies leading female professionals from across all industries, globally. In 2013 Barbara won the ‘Outstanding Woman in Construction Award’ at the UK's Women in Construction Awards, where judges cited her “outstanding career as an inspiration for all women in engineering, property and construction professions”.

She is a Trustee of the Mace Foundation and a former Board member of British Expertise.

She is passionate about inclusion, diversity and developing talent. She works with Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) on their mentoring programme, alongside the industry focused Mentoring Circle and the Royal Academy of Engineering Leadership Scheme, of which she is an alumni.

Barbara is a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineer and a Fellow of the Association of Project Managers.

industry manager for construction & building services engineering
City & Guilds

I am a Carpenter & Joiner by trade and have worked on various sites around the UK & Europe. Several years later I went into FE as a Carpenter & Joinery Lecturer and left FE 22 years later as the Head of Curriculum & Apprenticeships which included Construction, Engineering, Land based Engineering and Motor Vehicle. I am now an Industry Manager for Construction with City & Guilds. Working closely with industry employers, professional bodies, and stakeholders to ensure the C&G Construction portfolio stays ahead of its competitors producing products and services that our customers and industry need.

associate director, major projects advisory
KPMG

Jenny is an Associate Director in KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory team in the UK, and has over 20 years of experience in project delivery across the full project lifecycle – from initiation through to delivery. Jenny has extensive experience of large scale transformation and has a passion for construction and particularly building safety, having taken on the lead of KPMG’s knowledge of the Building Safety Act, providing information and guidance to contribute to changing the construction industry for the better.

director of regional strategy & engagement
Manufacturing Technology Centre
architect and profession director - head of retail and mixed use
BDP
senior manager
National Grid

Rodney Williams is a Senior Manager in the Office of the CEO at National Grid. He has a background in project management and is an inclusive leader with a track record of facilitating culture change and supporting diverse talent in large, complex organisations. Rodney has over 12 years’ experience working in the construction industry, with roles in project delivery and development. He has contributed to major projects including the London Power Tunnels project and critical national infrastructure projects. Rodney was ranked number 2 in the EMpower and Yahoo Finance Top 100 Ethnic Minority Future Leader Role Models list 2020.

global director of commercial, legal and digital risks
Buro Happold

Recognised specialist in legal and other risks associated with digital and technology, and co-author of standard industry documents related to digital and construction technology including leading the drafting of the UK Government-approved legal guidance and standard contract documentation for the ISO19650 international standards. May was a member of the CDBB’s Digital Twin working group, and is a member of the UK Construction Playbook working group. She actively contributes to the development and implementation of innovative processes, digital technology, and standardized documentation on a global scale, applying over 18 years of legal experience and over 15 years specializing in digital and technology issues.

head of UK project & development services
JLL
CEO
BBI Services

Mark is a seasoned business improvement specialist with experience across a variety of construction environments.

Mark specialises in the top-level business drivers that cascade into strategy deployment enhancing business performance, the engagement of teams and long-term success. From a project/programme perspective, Mark has for many years worked with clients, contractors, and supply chains to drive certainty and betterment with real ROI and improvements critical at the project & programme level. This draws upon his experience from various sectors including automotive, aerospace and manufacturing, over many years of development work.

director, vice chair, National Association of Construction Frameworks
Constructing West Midlands

A registered Architect and member of the Association of Project Managers with 28 years’ experience working with senior industry figures, including 19 years’ experience managing the multi-billion pound Constructing West Midlands (CWM) frameworks, successfully creating and sustaining collaborative working partnerships throughout the wider industry supply chain. Peter provides professional, technical and construction framework advice, engaging with local and central government at national level to promote industry best-practice.

He is actively involved with multiple industry and Government initiatives including:

  • Vice Chair National Association of Construction Frameworks (NACF)
  • The Construction Playbook drafting committee member
  • Construction Leadership Council: Procure for Better Value Panel
  • National Procurement Strategy: Construction Steering Group
  • Member of the Government's (Grenfell) Industry Response Group
  • Local Government Association (LGA) professional-technical consultant

Playing a key role in shaping the future of the construction sector and improving public procurement, Peter is working with frameworks across England and Wales together with the University of Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction on the “Achieving Net Zero Carbon Reduction Code” launched as part of the CLC CO2nstruct Zero initiative at COP26.

founder
Carus Advisory Services

Precious Zumbika- Lwanga is a proud mom of two, an award-winning Construction Professional, businesswoman and entrepreneur. She is an experienced Executive, Cost & Commercial Expert, Strategic Advisor, Leadership Consultant and Non-Executive Director to several boards. She holds a BSc Hons in Quantity Surveying (University of Cape Town) and an Executive MBA from Lancaster University Management School. She commands over 20 years’ experience at the helm of cost and resource management operations and transformational change across a portfolio of high- value projects and programmes. She is a focused consultant with an impressive track record in collaborative, cross-functional teamwork within high-pressure environments in the public and private sector.

Precious is Founder of Carus Advisory Services a boutique construction and management consultancy where she works with and advises her clients on how to drive value and improve their organisational & project performance. Her passion for a more collaborative, transparent industry sees itself in the work she undertakes and drawing from the breadth of her experience she supports clients to not only look at the tactical objectives but approach projects and programmes strategically from leadership behaviours through to how to develop high performing project teams from project and asset delivery through to handover.

She is a Cranfield University Executive Development Associate/ Facilitator where curates and delivers leadership modules to various FTSE 250 organisations.

Precious was named one of NatWest Top 100 most inspirational women in 2021 in the Oxford Cambridge Arc, is a judge for Women leader awards UK (2020) and was a judge for the Construction News Awards 2023.