The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has announced the shortlists for its relaunched and revamped National Awards.
The Awards, which are returning after a pandemic enforced two-year break, will be presented ‘in-person’ on October 20 at a gala dinner in the Novotel London West hotel.
The event will be hosted by the award winning comedian Zoe Lyons and follows the Association’s annual National Conference, which is being held at the same venue.
To celebrate the return of the in-person format, BESA launched several new categories open to both members and non-members including Net Zero Initiative, Product Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, Competence and Compliance, and Women in Building Services.
The Awards, which were free to enter, celebrate individuals, teams, and companies responsible for delivering projects, products, innovations, and initiatives that demonstrate excellence in building services engineering. All the entries were scrutinised by an expert panel of judges drawn from across the sector.
They also feature for the first time a Specialist Groups award to pay tribute to the work of the many individuals who give up their own time to carry out important technical work on behalf of the Association and the industry at large.
The new format has attracted a record number of entries for a BESA Awards scheme with a wide array of building services talent appearing on the shortlists. The Product Innovation category has a shortlist of 16 due to the huge response from all parts of the industry demonstrating an impressive array of different technologies.
The dinner will also be the culmination of a year-long series of local heats for apprenticeship and training awards hosted by BESA’s regions and devolved nations with regional winners going forward to the national final in London.
The Association’s long-running management training award has been relaunched as The Manly Trust Management Training Bursary that offers generous funding to support the career development of a young engineer identified as one of the industry’s ‘future leaders’.
As well as being hosted by Zoe Lyons – well known from her appearances on Mock the Week and alongside Michael McIntyre and Paul O’Grady – the Awards dinner will feature a live band so promises to be BESA’s most lavish to date.
“The judges were hugely encouraged by the breadth and depth of talent and innovation represented by the large numbers of entries we received,” said BESA head of technical Graeme Fox, who chaired the judging panel.
“We were particularly delighted to see such strong support for the Competence and Compliance award as this is a major focus for our sector – not least because of new building safety legislation.
“Both the large and small project categories also attracted strong support and demonstrated the best of our industry in action. Above all, this year’s awards brought to our attention some of the brightest and most self-sacrificing people who are sharing freely of their time and expertise for the greater good of the industry.
“We are hugely grateful for their efforts which bode well for the future of our profession.”
Click here for the full shortlist and how to book your tickets for both BESA’s National Conference and Awards on October 20th. Book by July 29th to take advantage of the ‘early bird’ discount.
