Livery & Awards Dinner

On 14 February 2018 (Valentine’s Day) some 160 Constructors, Guests and Award recipients gathered in the magnificent surroundings of Drapers’ Hall to celebrate another Livery and Awards Dinner, meticulously organised (as usual) by our Gallant Clerk, Kim Tyrrell.

Guest of Honour was Sir Terry Morgan CBE, the Chairman of Crossrail, who, on conclusion of his most informative speech proposed the toast “The Worshipful Company of Constructors: May it flourish root and branch forever”.  Sir Terry, representing Crossrail, was also awarded our biennial award for Excellence in Construction.

Other awards were:

• Shafting & Shoring Cup – Cpl Matthew Wakefield  101 (City of London) Regt (EOD) RE
• Air Commodore Dow Trophy – Cpl Matthew Wakefield 5001 Squadron, RAF
• HMS Lancaster Prize – As HMS Lancaster is under refit the award was received by Captain Peter Laughton MBE and was donated to Service Charities
• David Tong Cup – Nathan Birch from London South Bank University
• Constructors’ Prize – Anjali Pindoria from the University of Westminster

We were also pleased to welcome the following people to the dinner:

• SIDS Scholars – George Holder (Costain) and Alexander Stephens (Bouyges)
• Sustainability Scholar – Peter Jenks  (Richardson Decorators)

Unfortunately two of our sustainability scholars were unable to attend the dinner, they were Hannah Clement (Kent County Council) and Rob Maasz (Gatwick Airport), and there were no FAS scholars this year.  However we look forward to hearing Rob and Peter give their presentations on 21 March.  Arrangements are being made with the CIOB for Hannah to make her presentation as a webinar session.

In view of the date of the event (which was rather dictated by the day of the week and the year in which it took place) the Master arranged for all the ladies present to receive a small gift, which was placed on the table before them.

The citations for each award were:

Shafting and Shoring Cup (Corporal Matthew Hill)
“Corporal Hill has provided unwavering support during an extremely demanding period which has seen the majority of his Squadron deployed in Iraq on Operation SHADER.  Stepping up to a level of responsibility well above his charge, he has maintained the Squadron’s equipment availability with both his immediate seniors absent for long periods of time.  Diligent and professional, he quickly identified a number of accounting errors in the Squadron which he worked hard to resolve, devising new procedures which were highlighted on inspection as exemplary and are now being mirrored across the Regiment.
A natural leader investing huge amounts of effort into mentoring and developing personnel with less experience in his field, including those senior in rank to him.  Utterly selfless, Corporal Hill works tirelessly to ensure that vital equipment is always available to the Squadron when required; he is a shining example to his fellow Junior Non-Commissioned Officers and thoroughly deserving of this award”

Air Commodore Dow Trophy (Cpl Matthew Wakefield)
Cpl Wakefield has worked above and beyond within 5001 Sqn Operations Flight, his support to the building and maintenance of Technical Working Environments over the last 12 months has been unwavering.
As the only General Technician (Electrical) fit to deploy on Operations within the Squadron he is often called away on tasks at very short notice. It is a mark of this individual that his enthusiasm for deployment is still as strong as it was when he was first posted onto the Squadron. In his own words he ‘is excited for and driven to undertake’ Expeditionary Operations and this can be seen in every aspect of his professional work.
During 2017 he has been deployed on Technical Working Environments Maintenance tasks to the UAE, Kuwait and Cyprus. Additionally, he was called upon to deploy at extremely short notice to support Operation SHADER as part of 5001 Squadrons Spearhead element. His professionalism and solid trade knowledge saw him head hunted to undertake a period of work at MOD Abbey Wood within the Defence Engineering and Support Organisation. Throughout this detachment he worked alongside the Project Team and Royal Engineers to design and develop the new maintenance publications acting as the electrical specialist. Wakefield is always keen to deploy and his obvious enthusiasm and good humour provides motivation and morale for the entire team. His talents have been recognised by his chain of command and it is for all of these reasons he is nominated as the 2017 Dow Trophy recipient””

David Tong Cup (Nathan Birch)
Nathan has travelled some distance since joining Highlands College as a craft student in 2008 where he trained in Carpentry & Joinery and went on to gain Levels 1 – 3 qualifications in Bench Joinery.
In 2013 Nathan embarked on his studies with London South Bank University the partner of the University College Jersey [UCJ], at Highlands College, Jersey on the HNC Diploma in Construction where he achieved four merit and two distinction grades. In 2015 he progressed onto the BSc (Hons) Construction Management Degree and graduated as the top student in his cohort with a First Class (Hons) Degree.
In common with so many students on Island construction related courses Nathan has managed to successfully complete his studies whilst holding down a full time job as a site manager for Cameron’s limited.  Throughout his studies Nathan has produced work of the highest standards.  It is anticipated that Nathan will now progress his application to become a corporate member of the Chartered institute of Building and be entitled to use the designation of “Chartered Construction Manager”. 

Constructors’ Prize (Anjali Pindoria)
Anjali graduated from the University of Westminster in June 2017 with a First Class Honours Degree in Quantity Surveying & Commercial Management. Anjali undertook the degree course on a part time (day release) basis whilst employed with Avi Contracts, a specialist carpentry and joinery contractor. Throughout the duration of her course Anjali achieved consistently high grades in her modules and culminating in the award of a first class honours degree.  Such a level of performance is obviously exceptional, but to achieve it whilst having to balance her studies with the demands of full time employment is clear evidence of Anjali’s commitment.
Anjali was an excellent student, eager to help her fellow students in the areas in which she excelled and had a great rapport with academic staff. She is a worthy recipient of the Constructor’s Prize.

Royal Charter Award for Excellence (Crossrail)
The Master said “We recognise Crossrail as the most outstanding engineering project of its time, a major contribution to the infrastructure of the transport network to the Capital and The Country as a whole, making life-changing improvements to communications in the region, and are pleased to confer upon them the Royal Charter Award for Excellence in Construction this 14^th day of February 2018″

HMS Lancaster is currently undergoing a refit at Devonport Dockyard, and has no crew, so this year, the monetary value of the HMS Lancaster Prize was donated to RN and RM charities, and the cheque was received by Captain Peter Laughton MBE RN (Captain Surface Ships, Portsmouth)