There is no getting away from the hype of London 2012 at the moment as the athletes of Team GB strive to achieve their ultimate prize – a gold medal. However, there is another Olympic team looking to achieve the top prize in their field – an APM Award.
As the Games get underway it was the construction of the Olympic Park that has received the plaudits as it was completed a year ahead of schedule and £1billon under budget. This has led to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) securing a spot as a finalist at the APM Awards ceremony on 1st November.
They will be competing for Programme of the Year, sponsored by Program Framework, alongside RSA for their Vision Programme and Royal Mail’s Transformation Programme.
This is not the only category the UK’s main letters and parcels service will be appearing in as they have achieved an impressive three finalist places in total. Two of which go to the Transformation Programme as it also being recognised in the brand new category for 2012 – the Shell HSSE (Health, safety, security and environment) award. The first year of this Shell sponsored award also sees competition from AstraZeneca Global Engineering for Managing HSSE on Construction Projects in Emerging Markets and Yorkshire Water in collaboration with Morgan Sindall Grontmij JV for the Esholt Thermal Hydrolysis Plant (THP).
Royal Mail’s third appearance at the APM Awards comes in Project of the Year for their Kent Processing Plant Project. The category, sponsored by Siemens, also features the PwC 7 More London Project from Turner & Townsend and Transport for London’s Green Park Step Free Access project.
Turner & Townsend, who have also secured three award nominations, will be contesting with United Utilities and last year’s fellow finalists Arup for Project Management Company of the Year. Turner & Townsend’s third chance of glory comes from Beth Alderman who will be vying for the QA Aikona sponsored Young Project Manager of the Year award along with Charlotte Godfrey from Davis Langdon (an AECOM Company) and Network Rail’s Christian Irwin.
The second set of individuals contesting for another significant accolade is in the Project Manager of the Year category sponsored by Programme Recruitment. Jots Sehmbi from UCL, Richard Walker from Network Rail and Lloyds Banking Group’s David Gutteridge are all looking to get their hands on the trophy.
Project magazine will again be sponsoring the Community Project of the Year award which sees NATS’ Mathematics mentoring at King Richard School project in Portsmouth go up against Allen Construction Consultancy’s Old Fire Station in Oxford.
BAE Systems are yet again sponsoring the entire Academic awards section as they are partnering the profession in ‘advancing project management professionalism through education’. This includes the Geoffrey Trimble award that recognises the best Masters post-graduate dissertation. This year’s shortlist includes Michael Parker from Davis Langdon (an AECOM Company), Carl Dutton from BT and Jerome Mertz who studied at Northumbria University. The Brian Willis Award will also be presented on the night for the year’s highest mark gained in an APM PMQ exam.
Overseas Project of the Year features the Al Wahda Master Development in Abu Dhabi from EC Harris International Ltd, along with the Indian Pune Office Relocation (IT) from MWH Global and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC) in Athens from Faithful+Gould.
Other awards to be presented on the night include the BNFL award and the prestigious Sir Monty Finniston Award, which is the equivalent to a ‘lifetime achievement’ award recognising those who have contributed significantly to the profession.
The applicants for the APM Awards continue to impress the judges as the quality and variety improves year on year making their job even harder. Mary McKinlay, head of awards, said: “Looking at the range of entries, it really emphasises the notion that project management is now an all encompassing discipline. The finalists have done very well to get this far, the competition was intense and I wish them the best of luck.
“I would also like to thank those who didn’t make it to the finals, it was tough with such good contestants to reach the decisions and I am grateful to the judges who have done such a good job again this year.”
The APM Awards ceremony on 1st November is set to be a night to remember as it falls during APM’s 40th anniversary year. There will be a touch of glamour to kickoff the evening’s celebrations at the stunning Park Plaza Riverbank hotel in London with a drinks reception sponsored by Thales. Make sure you don’t miss out on what is set to be the most anticipated event of the year by booking your place today.
See the complete shortlist of the APM Project Management Awards 2012 finalists.