Britain's Energy Coast Business Cluster Business Awards 2010
Thursday 28 October saw the inaugural awards ceremony of Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster. The evening brought together the leading lights of businesses operating on the Energy Coast to celebrate the achievements of the Award winners: Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, Kier Construction, Studsvik UK, Bardon Aggregates, TIS Cumbria, and Westlakes Engineering.
Over 200 business leaders attended the glittering evening at ENERGUS, Cumbria’s training facility for the nuclear industry, where they were treated to an inspiring address by world famous entrepreneur, music producer and celebrity, Pete Waterman. Following a passionate speech on the importance of apprenticeships to the future of our economy, Pete interviewed a panel of three Cumbrian entrepreneurs, Dick Raaz of the Low Level Waste Repository, Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart of the Stobart Group. After a dinner of Cumbrian delicacies, local raconteur Howard Nicholson regaled the audience with a presentation on Cumbrian dialect.
The winners are listed below and following this is further coverage of the event.
Awards Celebrating Business Excellence in Britain’s Energy Coast™
Excellence in Health and Safety Award
– Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Ltd
Sponsored by NMP
Out of all of the categories the Health and Safety award has received the most applications. Submissions have been from both large organisations and SMEs and this has been a difficult category to judge. The winner of this award, however, has delivered projects on time and budget, whilst maintaining zero incidents. The safety culture they instil in their workforce is clearly evident as they work towards a ‘zero harm journey’. They stand as a beacon to others.
Photo top: The winning Balfour Beatty Engineering Sevices Ltd team
Photo bottom: Bob Thring and Phil Wright receiving their award from Graham Campbell of NMP
Excellence in Quality Award – Kier Construction Ltd
Sponsored by Bardon Aggregates Ltd
The application from this winning organisation was very strong. Their commitment to ‘right first time’ was clearly evidenced. They have developed a comprehensive quality management system which is clearly embedded in the firms’ corporate culture. This organisation adopts a "quality in everything they do" mentality and this came through strongly in their application.
-
Photo top: The double award winning team from Kier Construction Ltd
Photo bottom: Simon Taylor of sponsors Bardon Aggregates, present Kier Construction Ltd with the Excellence in Quality Award
Environmental and Sustainability Award – Studsvik UK Ltd
Sponsored by VINCI Construction
It was a close competition for the sustainability award with excellent submissions showing the incredible breadth of approaches to sustainability from many organisations within Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster. The winner of this award has demonstrated sustainability not just in their work but also in the treatment of employees and work within the local communities. Metal recycling facilities have, and will continue to play, a significant part in reducing low level waste. The recycling process used by this winning organisation has made a substantial step towards massively reducing low level waste in the nuclear industry for years to come.
Photo: Sponsor Martin Carroll of VINCI Construction, presents the Sustainability Award to the team from Studsvik
Business Innovation Award – Bardon Aggregates Ltd
Sponsored by Kier Construction Ltd
The winner of this award solved a very substantial problem for their client. Through excellent partnership working they used local quarries to reduce environmental impact and utilised rail transportation without disrupting passenger services within Britain’s Energy Coast. Through an innovative partnership, 48 local jobs were created, all this whilst reducing 620 tonnes of CO2 emissions removed from our local road network.
Photo: Bardon Aggregates received the Business Innovation Award from sponsors Kier Construction Ltd
Communities Through Business Awards
People and Skills Development Award – TIS Cumbria Ltd
Sponsored by Westinghouse
This award winning organisation received a special commendation from the judges for the best overall submission. The company is a young vibrant organisation encouraging dignity and diversity, even competing at the World Skills Olympics. They have shown a tremendous passion for the development of their workforce, young and old. Their investment in skills development is exemplary.
Photo: TIS Cumbria receiving the People and Skills Development Award from Westinghouse
Small Business of the Year Award – Westlakes Engineering
Sponsored by AMEC
The Small Business of the Year is a growing organisation with a broad client base. They provide a range of vital services for nuclear and energy markets. Whilst the company has grown and developed they have continued to invest and recruit local people. They have strong financial viability and their growth has proved to be beneficial to the local economy.
Photo: Westlakes Engineering Ltd receive the Small Business of the Year Award from sponsors AMEC
Supply Chain Partnership Award – Kier Construction Ltd
Sponsored by West Cumbria Development Agency (WCDA)
The winner of this award has fully embraced supply chain partnering. Their integrated alliance with suppliers clearly demonstrates best practice and they have worked tirelessly to create a reward structure which is aligned to deliver their customers’ goals.
Photo: Dog Holden of WCDA (right) presents Kier Construction Ltd with the Supply Chain Partnership Award
Community Engagement Award – Bardon Aggregates Ltd
Sponsored by Low Level Waste Repository Ltd (LLWR)
The winning organisation of this award has taken a systematic approach to ‘live and breathe’ community engagement at a micro level. This company has continually demonstrated initiatives that have a lasting impact on the local economy. They are not simply a company who pays ‘lip service’ to community engagement but are embedded within their communities and provide local initiatives which will serve their communities for years to come. A worthy winner.
Photo: Dick Raaz of LLWR presents the Bardon Aggregates team with the Community Engagement Award
Photo: Pete Waterman speaks at the BECBC Awards Dinner
Photo: Pete Waterman interviews the panel of Cumbrian entrepreneurs - Andrew Tinkler, Dick Raaz and William Stobart
The Awards proved a great success in highlighting just what businesses on the Energy Coast have to offer in Cumbria and beyond, with their combination of can-do attitude and innovative thinking, and many with the experience of working on one of the country’s largest and most complex nuclear sites.
The Cluster was formed in 2003 as West Cumbria Business Cluster to address the impact of nuclear decommissioning upon the West Cumbrian economy and its business community. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength, assisting member companies to share knowledge and market intelligence, and build links with organisations that can help them grow.
Commented Chairman of Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster, Jonathan Marshall of Burnett’s Solicitors, “The 2010 Awards proved yet again that the Cluster is about action and moving forward. What better way of presenting the strengths of our businesses could there be than staging an Awards ceremony to show case their particular areas of expertise?
“I would like to thank all of the many businesses who sent in applications. Selecting the Award winners was a very difficult task for our independent panel of judges, with such a strong field. I hope those firms that did not win this time put in a submission next year, as I fully expect our 2011 Business Awards to be even more successful than the first. A huge thank you should also go to the awards sponsors and event manager, ENERGUS, who made our evening possible.”
The stage is set and the ceremony begins, piped in by Craig McKay, a former Queen's Piper.
Photo left: BECBC Director and Event Co-organiser, Steve McClure of Bardon Aggregates, welcomes guests to the BECBC Awards Dinner.
Photo right: Tony Dixon, Tony Sewell and John Smith of Story Construction enjoying a pint (or two!)
Guests enjoying the evening at the BECBC Awards Dinner, included Kevin Thompson, Pete Waterman, Zoe Whittle and Dog Holden.
BECBC Business Awards organisers Emma-Jayne Gooch and Steve McClure at the end of a successful evening.
With thanks to all the sponsors and supporters of the Business Awards and Dinner.
Click here to see the press coverage of the Business Awards in the News & Star (link opens in a new window)
Further coverage of the awards can be seen in Powering the Nation Edition 6 - November 2010 (a Britain's Energy Coast publication)
