Tag: awards

CALA’s Mark triumphs at London awards

AN EDINBURGH project manager has won a top industry accolade at a prestigious national awards ceremony in London.

Mark Foley, of CALA Homes (East) took home the esteemed “Multi-Storey Building” award after representing Scotland at the National House Building Council (NHBC) Pride in the Job Supreme Awards, at the Park Plaza Hotel in Westminster.

This year’s judging process began with the assessment of thousands of site and project managers from across the UK and culminated in only four Supreme Award winners.

Mark, 49, faced tough competition from projects in York, Poole and London but his work on the UNESCO-accredited site, The Crescent at Donaldson’s, stood out against his competitors.

This success follows Mark’s win in the qualifying heats of the NHBC ‘Pride in the Job’ Quality Awards in July and Regional Awards in October 2019, after impressing a team of inspectors during a series of rigorous and unscheduled visits to the development.

As well as undergoing spot checks of the day-to-day running of their sites, each Site Manager is assessed across 37 different areas of site management, including technical knowledge, quality and consistency.

Mark is CALA’s most decorated project manager with 13 Pride in the Job awards, alongside nine Seal of Excellences and two regional awards.

Mark said: “Delivering excellent quality for customers is what most site teams strive for and for our work at The Crescent to be recognised by the NHBC at the Supreme Awards is a real privilege and without doubt, the highlight of my career.

“Having the opportunity to work on such a prestigious site, with this level of architectural design, makes it all the more exciting.

“While my name is on the award, I want to make sure that it is appreciated how much of a team effort this is, and it couldn’t have been achieved without the amazing team I have working alongside me.

“I was immensely proud of the whole team at the Regional awards, but to make it to the Supreme Awards, and come out victorious, is a dream come true.”

Kevin Whitaker, Chief Executive Officer of CALA Homes, said: “The Pride in the Job awards recognise the industry’s best site managers and the exceptional contribution they make in creating homes of outstanding quality.

“The Supreme Award is the very highest accolade that a site manager can receive and we are extremely proud of Mark for this fantastic achievement.

“This award doesn’t just represent success for Mark, however, but for the entire team at CALA Homes East, who all play a vital role in ensuring that this unique and complex architectural design is delivered safely and to the highest quality standards for not only our customers, but also the wider Edinburgh community, on what is a very important site for the City.”

Steve Wood, NHBC Chief Executive, said: “Through Pride in the Job, NHBC has been celebrating the best of the best in house building for almost 40 years.

“There is no doubt that these awards have been instrumental in driving up the quality of new homes and results show that Pride in the Job winning sites have higher levels of customer satisfaction.

“The final stage of this competition is tough, so to earn the highest accolade of Supreme winner a site manager must have successfully managed a wide range of competing demands and challenges.

“Their determination and success in achieving excellence deserves recognition. More importantly, site managers like Mark are creating high quality outstanding homes that their customers can have confidence in – they are building the future. Congratulations, Mark.”

Designed by architect, Richard Murphy OBE, The Crescent mirrors the curve of the traditional New Town homes it finds itself inspired by.

Situated in the tranquil grounds of the iconic Donaldson’s estate, homes at The Crescent offer the convenience of capital living with an authentic rural feel with expansive views of the Pentland Hills.

The final remaining homes in the development’s west wing have not long been available and offer a range of sizes – from one-bedroom apartments to a deluxe penthouse – to cater for any potential buyers from £595,000 – £1,750,000.

For more information, or to register interest in the Crescent development visit: www.cala.co.uk/the-crescent or call 0131 341 2667.

Local company achieves Investors in People Platinum accreditation

Warmworks Scotland, managing agent of the Scottish Government’s  national fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland, has achieved the prestigious Investors in People Platinum accreditation.

To have received the highest level accreditation means that Warmworks has become only the second organisation in Scotland to achieve a Platinum award in its first assessment against the standard.

For nearly 30 years, Investors in People has been recognised internationally as a leading people accreditation and Warmworks’ achievement reflects the commitments that the company makes to its employees – leading and inspiring people to achieve great things on a daily basis.

Commenting on the accreditation, Ross Armstrong, Managing Director of Warmworks said: “I am absolutely delighted that Warmworks has been awarded the Investors in People accreditation, Platinum standard. This was our first assessment against the standard and to receive the highest level accreditation is a testament to how we do business.

“I am extremely proud and privileged to be a part of this amazing organisation, one that has already achieved so much in the four years since it was formed. The next step for us is to use our unique, values-driven culture as our starting point for our future growth and development, ensuring that we maximise this platform to build an equally exciting and inspiring future.”

 Ben Macpherson, MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith said:  “Warmworks do vital work in my constituency, delivering the Scottish Government’s nationwide energy efficiency scheme and helping to lift many of my constituents out of fuel poverty.

“That’s why I was so delighted when Warmworks received the Investors in People Platinum accreditation. This demonstrates not only their commitment to their employees but also their determination to lead by example as an employer of choice.”

Warmworks, based in Leith, was founded in 2015 and employs around 70 field and office-based employees. It also manages a supply chain of 300+, which cover the length and breadth of Scotland.

Local volunteer receives award at Scottish Parliament

North Edinburgh local, Colin Brown, was presented with an award at the Scottish Parliament, in recognition of his volunteer charity work with Children 1st’s Parentline.

The People’s Postcode Lottery ‘Spirit of Parentline’ Awards celebrated the qualities in volunteers that allow Parentline to lend a helping hand to children and families across Scotland – by phone, email and webchat. Continue reading Local volunteer receives award at Scottish Parliament

Veteran Edinburgh firefighter’s ‘ultimate accolade’ as vehicle named in his honour

An Edinburgh-based Watch Commander – who is one the UK’s longest serving members of the fire and rescue service – is to have a fire appliance named in his honour. Continue reading Veteran Edinburgh firefighter’s ‘ultimate accolade’ as vehicle named in his honour

Success for Edinburgh College at CDN College Awards

Two awards for Edinburgh College at CDN Awards 2019

Edinburgh College scooped two honours at the sectors major awards ceremony last night – celebrating the talent of both its students and staff.

Dean Clark, a 32-year-old HND Retail Management student (above), was named Student of the Year at the College Development Network (CDN) College Awards for the positive impact he had on others while establishing the College’s first ever student-led shop, Bizarre Bazaar.

Dean, who is from Wester Hailes, project-managed a team of his fellow retail students as well as working alongside students and staff from the College’s Built Environment and Creative Industries faculties to create the new shop in a bid to gain first-hand experience of setting up and running a new small business.

In addition, Dean recruited volunteers from a programme aimed at supporting people seeking employment, a programme Dean previously went through himself. References have since been provided for the volunteers to help them in looking for future work.

The College’s second prize of the night was awarded to the Marketing team. The collected the Marketing and Communications category for their ‘Your Future Starts Now’ exam results campaign.

The team developed an integrated campaign aimed at increasing applications, application conversion and to improve customer service following Exam Results Day. The team’s activity led to a 258% increase in applications compared to the same three-day period the previous year.

In addition, recent BMus graduate Jack McKenzie was commended in the Student of the Year category after he saved the College’s orchestra from disbanding and led it to play shows across Scotland. The team behind the creation of Engineering’s HNC Mechanical Engineering (Enhance Distance Learning) was also commended in the Digital Learning category.

Student of the Year Dean Clark said: “I’m thrilled to have won this award. When we set out to create Bizarre-Bazaar, we really just wanted to get some real-life experience of retail, however, it grew to be an amazing project which brought different areas of the College together.

“To receive this recognition for this is brilliant and makes me feel very proud.”

Principal Audrey Cumberford said: “What a great achievement for the staff and students at Edinburgh College.

“Congratulations to Dean, our retail superstar who achieved so much during his time with at the College. His legacy is more than the retail space he worked hard to create, but also the impact he had on classmates and lecturers. Well done, Dean.

“Our Marketing team are also thoroughly deserving of their award. The team worked tirelessly on a terrific campaign to ensure school leavers and others receiving exam results could make the best possible decisions to help them pursue their chosen careers.

“Well done also to Jack McKenzie and our Engineering curriculum team who received commendations on the night.

“Everyone at Edinburgh College is very proud of you all, congratulations.”

Let’s hear it for our hard-working councillors!

Home advantage for four city councillors!

LGiU (Local Government Information Unit) Scotland and sponsora CCLA have unveiled the shortlist for the 2019 Councillor Awards.

For the second year running, the Councillor Awards have been showcasing the best of local government. The Councillor Awards are the only national awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of individual councillors across Scotland.  Continue reading Let’s hear it for our hard-working councillors!

Success for BBC Scotland at Scottish Baftas

BBC Scotland, the BBC’s new digital channel for Scotland, which launched in February this year, celebrated a clean sweep at the Bafta Scotland awards ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday night, picking up a bumper crop of gongs across multiple categories.
The evening saw the channel triumph in every category it was nominated in, alongside an evening of BBC success which included the creative team behind Still Game receiving an Outstanding Contribution To Television award (winners detailed below).

Continue reading Success for BBC Scotland at Scottish Baftas