CIOB calls for final CMYA entries

Now in its 38th year, Construction Manager of the Year (CMYA) are the only industry awards that focus on the individual construction manager; renowned for its rigour and fairness, CMYA has built a reputation for identifying future leaders of the construction industry. 

The award’s comprehensive judging has led to this prestigious status. All shortlisted candidates face the same process, with over 20 elite judges spending six months traveling the length and breadth of the country to interview all shortlisted candidates and visit every site.

The process is rigorous but as Lee Hutchinson, 2014 Construction Manager of the Year says “You have to go for it, and not be put off by the application forms. The whole process takes six months, and it would be easy to say it’s too hard or too difficult, I’ll never win that, but my advice is that you can’t possibly know if you’re going to win or not. If you’re proud of what you’ve built, you must enter.”

CMYA attracts candidates from all areas of construction, including some of the industry’s largest companies and some of its smallest. Because the process is fair, you have the same chance of winning whether you have a big marketing team behind you, or not. As judge Gill Trodden, FCIOB says “Overseeing a small team that is transforming or extending an existing building can be as personally challenging as managing the construction of a skyscraper.” This view is backed up by fellow judge Gareth Davies, FCIOB who says, “Every year I meet people who have performed minor miracles on seemingly routine jobs. They easily become frontrunners”. 

The CIOB is working hard to encourage more women entrants, which they admit still form a small minority. Recent silver medal winner, Leanne Broderick, said “I had an amazing night. It was great recognition of what I had achieved in my career to date. It was brilliant to spend time with people that I’ve worked closely with and who supported me in my career.”

The awards are open to projects of all sizes, for both site and non-site-based managers whether CIOB members or not and are free to enter.

For an industry where people are used to talking about ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ , CMYA is unique as it recognises the hard work and talent of an individual construction manager. An appreciation not lost on 2015 Construction Manager of the Year, Dennis Wilson, who commented, “Winning CMYA, will stay with me for the rest of my career. Getting recognition from my industry peers was the most important part of winning. That’s why CMYA means so much.” 

With less than a week until entries close on 7 March 2016, CIOB are already seeing a record number of early applications from new entrants, and encourage anyone who is thinking of entering to apply now.  For more details please go to www.cmya.co.uk or call Cheryl Callow on 01344 630764 or Lesley Curtis on 01344 630802.