Among the highlights of the night were a Judges Special Award for the Nightingale Hospital, where 83 local firms put competition aside and joined forces to build the 180-bed Covid hospital in 25 days.
JeCC Chairman Martin Holmes was also recognised with an Exceptional Contribution Award for his work to ensure that local firms were supported throughout the pandemic, keeping sites open and operating safely, ensuring there was a fully functioning industry once Covid-19 was under control.
A first for the awards was the joint award of Lifetime Achiever, which was awarded to George Carswell and Phil James, both of whom have made a significant contribution to the industry for many years.
Hosted by ITV presenter, Jess Dunsdon, guests were entertained by news presenter Naga Munchetty and local artist Moya, well known for her performance on the ITV show, The Voice, the night ending with a musical performance from Inside Job.
In his address to industry, Mr Holmes highlighted the council’s role throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in working with the government to ensure the industry was able to ‘emerge from the pandemic in good shape’.
He referenced the delivery of the Nightingale Hospital as an example of what can be achieved if a common purpose is embraced by the whole development team from the outset and urged that key successes from this ‘exemplar project of agile decision-making, fast implementation and a collaborative approach’ become embedded for the delivery of future projects.
Reflecting on the difficulties of the post-Brexit labour market, Mr Holmes focused on the key priority of developing homegrown future talent and the progress over the last two years of the design, engineer, construct (DEC) programme, with more than 400 children across five island secondary schools now studying construction as a core subject.
The ongoing importance of Health and Safety was also highlighted with the launch of a joint initiative between the Jersey Safety Council and six of the largest main contractors to roll out through the supply chain Behavioural Safety Leadership Training.
The Brick Foundation was again a beneficiary of the awards night, with a raffle raising more than £4,000 enabling the sub-committee to identify a further worthy project to start in the near future.
