Contribution to a Project

This category seeks to recognise women who work on projects, but not in a direct engineering or construction capacity, who still play a crucial part in project delivery. These might be project managers or those from other disciplines such as marketing, quantity surveying, cost management, supply chain management or data management.

Sarah Bissessar
Willmott Dixon Interior

Sarah Bissessar has cultivated a lasting partnership with the NHS Trust, positioning WDI as the preferred contractor by fostering collaboration, providing responsive support for inquiries, managing tough discussions and navigating challenging financial constraints. This has been crucial because following a critical CQC report, the hospital urgently requires improvements. Sarah has devoted considerable effort to refocusing the team on enhancing patient outcomes and creating better working environments for clinical staff through ongoing project design and implementation workshops. Sarah is a positive, solution-oriented individual with unique inter-personal leadership skills enabling her to work well with a diverse range of people. Sarah consistently anticipates and addresses the needs of multiple project stakeholders and balances their competing requirements This has enabled her to develop the partnering relationship from a standing start of two challenging projects to an ongoing working relationship which has facilitated significant improvements to patient care and facilities for the NHS Trust.

Sophie Cannon
Strabag

I advocate wholeheartedly that Sophie has made an immeasurable positive contribution on this Project. Sophie is an outstanding addition to any team and truly embodies excellence. Sophie is an empowering woman with a strong voice in a typically male industry. Her dedication and passion for efficient procurement is evidenced in everything she does and has achieved over the last 14 years. Sophie deserves recognition for the tireless contribution she has made to the HS2 project and deserves to win “Contribution to Project” Award. I am excited to see what Sophie can achieve next as she continues to progress in her career.

Katy Hall
SC4 Carpenters

As an SME, SC4 has to be flexible enough to react to the variable market and levels of work. As such it relies on the ability of its team to adapt to current requirements and meet challenges face on. Katy is the linchpin behind this, working diligently, politely, professionally and with dedication to ensure the company's success. As Company Secretary and Director, Katy is being responsible for strategic decision-making and management and implementation of legal and regulatory requirements within the company. In addition, on a day-to-day Katy's role covers most of the back-office functions, including HR, finance, project management, technological solutions, training, welfare, marketing, copywriting, pricing, cost management, supply chain management and data management. Katy's role is vital in every SC4 project, ensuring that contracts are signed, regulations are met, certification and insurance is up-to-date, invoices are raised, staff, subcontractors and suppliers are paid and that marketing is completed.

Maria Hartford-Beynon
Structural Soils a part of RSK Group

Maria is a truly remarkable person. Managing a team of geo-environmental specialists and leading the Structural Soils national training and development programme - in conjunction with taking the lead environmental role in the major projects which we undertake. Maria is an amazing role model for our young female engineers who are just starting out in the industry. Academically Maria is recognised for her technical abilities. In the workplace Maria demonstrates that there is no reason why young women should not achieve anything that they wish to within a career in the construction industry. The work which Maria undertook as part of the team which delivered the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Ground Investigation, was fundamental to the success of the project. Every compound, every access route, every exploratory hole - all had to pass through the scrutiny of Marias environmental management permitting systems - before works were allowed to commence. Simply First-Class.

Sarah Lack
Skanska

Sarah is an inspiring and dedicated Internal Communications Manager with 15yrs experience in construction. Working for Skanska UK on the A428 Highways Project worth £1bn. She inspires others to look at the benefits of effective communication in a challenging multi discipline environment. Sarah effectively cascades key messages through varied and targeted channels of communication to a project team of 300+ in multi disciplines and locations. Her challenge was to establish effective and valuable channels that broke down silo working and encouraged a collaborative working environment whilst linking to the projects Vision, Values and Behaviours. She created methods that deliver consistent key messaging to all people at one time and inspires others to seek value in communication. The Infrastructure & Projects Authority (IPA) in a recent audit, said: “Tensions and silo mentality that can exist on large scale projects has been eliminated with a fully functional collaborative, integrated and collocated team’’.

Sara Lovelady
Currie & Brown

Sara is an outstanding Senior Commercial Manager whose expertise has transformed the projects she's involved in. Bringing exceptional skills in contract management, problem-solving, and cost control, ensuring project success and fostering economic growth. Sara's approach to contract management focuses on supporting local contractors, guiding them through complex contractual obligations, and fostering economic development within the community. She has successfully restructured contracts to de-risk delivery, leading to smooth project closeouts despite challenges. Her innovative cost management strategies have improved transparency and accountability across the project. Sara's efforts have also resolved cashflow issues, reallocated £8 million of scope, and created a collaborative culture that encourages open communication and problem-solving. Sara's impact extends beyond her immediate projects, as she shares her knowledge and best practices with new staff across the UK. Her commitment to challenging traditional construction culture and fostering a more inclusive mindset makes her a deserving candidate for this project award.

Fiona Ray
Amey

Fiona is the HSEQ Lead for Amey Consulting's Rail South Account, where she has improved safety, quality, wellbeing, and diversity standards for the design team working on the Core Valley Lines Transformation project. She has shown expertise in her field by enhancing reporting and feedback mechanisms, triaging and closing out close calls and quality incidents, and providing robust guidance and support to the project team and leadership. She has also demonstrated innovation, collaboration, and problem-solving skills by leading and participating in various initiatives, such as developing improved PPE for women, producing a film on road risk, championing assumptions vs knowledge and unconscious bias, using fatigue calculators, and founding a Women’s Lean-In Circle. Fiona's work has had a positive impact on the project outcome and the learning culture within the project, as well as benefiting the wider business and the industry.

Claire Sheridan
UK Power Networks

Claire Sheridan is an outstanding project leader working with UK Power Networks at the heart of the net zero transition. She helps power up the UK’s future energy landscape through transformative electricity infrastructure projects. Excelling in her field, she was promoted to portfolio manager, including responsibility for delivering the £66 million Green Recovery Programme. Her work involves fast-tracking electricity connections for electric bus fleets, motorway service Electric Vehicle charging stations and EV charging hubs. Electrifying our future, she enables more of us to plug into electricity when and where we want and adopt more low carbon technologies. She achieves this while using her platform to help women and girls achieve whatever they set their minds to in the utilities industry. She mentors women within and outside her team and works with local schools, encouraging young people to consider rewarding careers in Science, Technology and Engineering and Maths (STEM).

Georgie Street
City Building Engineering Services

In 2023 the Energy and Innovation Team delivered the largest single project the business has to date. Georgie was running this in her role as Project and Programme Manager. The installation programme ran from March-December with multiple complex installations every week. Georgie was not only key to it's successful delivery but was the central point of contact for all stakeholders, she not only had to put herself out there with numerous difficult conversations but also needed to be consistently all over every detail of the project. Often in the face of adversity and significant unexpected issues Georgie not only never let her head drop she never let it impact the customer and client experience.

Pam Tippett
Wilmott Dixon 

Pam's leadership on the Stockport project showcases her exceptional commitment to meeting rigorous asset management and digital requirements while fostering teamwork and upskilling. She built strong relationships with stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and a smooth handover. Pam spearheaded technology trials, improving internal processes and advocating for digital transformation. Recognising the challenge of upskilling the team with limited digital experience, Pam provided hands on support, workshops, and mentoring. She worked on-site, addressing coordination issues and creating new progress reporting processes. Pam also trained over 40 supply chain partners, stressing the importance of digital tools. Her dedication and collaborative approach resulted in the entire team becoming digital experts, leaving a lasting legacy of enhanced skills and capabilities. Pam's transformative impact on the Stockport Interchange project underscores her invaluable contribution to digital construction and Wilmott Dixon.