Hugely important night for a hugely important industry

The keenly anticipated Consultancy and Engineering Awards saw leading industry figures and projects showcased at a hugely successful celebration on Thursday 19 January.

The 2022 Awards, rescheduled after the original date last November was postponed due to a rail strike, took place at London Marriott Grosvenor Square.

Highlighting the best people, projects and businesses from the world of consulting, engineering and the built environment, the Association for Consultancy and Engineering’s (ACE) prestigious awards returned as an in-person ceremony for the first time since a pre-pandemic 2019. 

Sponsored by industry communications specialists BECG and expertly hosted by Katie Prescott of The Times, the evening ceremony brought together more than 280 colleagues from ACE member firms, clients and other stakeholders.

ACE CEO Stephen Marcos Jones said: “We’re thrilled to have brought the industry together, in-person, to celebrate achievement after a challenging period. The quality of the entries across the board demonstrated that our sector is in good health, and the companies driving it really are best in class.” 

ACE member Mott MacDonald was the big winner on the night. Shortlisted six times, they won two awards for their company – Best International Project for their work on the BIM Pathfinder project with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Best Transport Project for their work for Crossrail on the Elizabeth Line. In addition, Caroline Reeson was named Emerging Professional of the Year.  

Best digital project was awarded to WSP for their work creating immersive virtual designs at Old Oak Common for HS2, best social value project to AECOM for their work on the Northumberland Line, and Best Net Zero project to Waterman Group for their materials passport approach.

Meanwhile, Ramboll was named Inclusive Employer of the Year and Apprentice of the Year went to Hannah Mehr of Arup. 

There were also Best Consultancy Awards for Lewis Hubbard Engineering (micro), Narro (small and medium) and BWB Consulting (large). 

Arup, Costain, DT Global, Mott MacDonald, RYBKA, Super Structures Associates, and WSP were highly commended for entries across the categories. 

ACE CEO Stephen Marcos Jones described the night as “a hugely important night for a hugely important industry.” He said: “The standard was exceptionally high, and the projects that ACE members are either leading or involved in make a real difference to UK society on a day-to-day basis.

“A huge congratulations to all the worthy winners on the night and the highly commended entries. A special thank you to headline sponsor BECG for their support and to category supporters Mott MacDonald and WSP for helping to make the night happen.” 

Jamie Gordon, director of headline sponsors BECG said: “I was really impressed by the quality of all the candidates, and tonight is all about collaboration in action. Leading industry figures are mingling around, sharing experiences and celebrating a common objective. It’s the kind of collaboration and shared experience the industry needs as we move forward to tackle joint challenges such as net zero together.” 

ACE chair Dave Beddell said: “It’s been really refreshing to see people come together like this. It’s sometimes easy to lose track of the great work this industry does throughout society. Tonight reminds us of the strengths we have as an industry – it’s almost like a reset of optimism after the abyss of the last few years.”

Awards host Katie Prescott, The Times’ technology business editor, said: “The list of projects highlighted tonight was absolutely mind-blowing. A series of inspirational entries that are key to rebuilding the economy and positively affecting peoples’ day-to-day lives all across the UK and beyond.” 

The winners and shortlisted entries at the Consultancy and Engineering Awards 2022 were: 

Best UK Consultancy (micro): 

Winner: Lewis Hubbard Engineering. 

Highly commended: Super Structures Associates Ltd. 

Shortlisted: CC Hydrodynamics and Rail Power Solutions. 

Best UK Consultancy (small and medium): 

Winner: Narro. 

Highly commended: RYBKA. 

Shortlisted: Dougall Baillie Associates & Harley Haddow. 

Best UK Consultancy (large): 

Winner: BWB Consulting Ltd. 

Highly commended: Costain. 

Shortlisted: Buro Happold, Pick Everard & WSP. 

Best Digital Project: 

Winner: WSP. 

Highly commended: Mott MacDonald.  

Shortlisted: AECOM, Amey & Royal HaskoningDHV. 

Best Transport Project: 

Winner: Mott MacDonald. 

Highly commended: DT Global. 

Shortlisted: Amey & Waterman Group. 

Best Social Value Project  (sponsored by WSP): 

Winner: AECOM. 

Shortlisted: Atkins, Buro Happold, Costain & Mott MacDonald. 

Best Net Zero Project 

Winner: Waterman Group. 

Highly commended: WSP. 

Shortlisted: Mott MacDonald & Ramboll. 

Best International Project: 

Winner: Mott MacDonald. 

Highly commended: DT Global. 

Inclusive Employer of the Year (sponsored by Building Inclusivity): 

Winner: Ramboll 

Shortlisted: AECOM, Costain & WSP. 

Apprentice of the Year (sponsored by Mott MacDonald) 

Winner: Hannah Mehr (Arup). 

Highly commended: Callum Kantounas (WSP). 

Shortlisted: William Hoare (Mott MacDonald), Aaron Oakes (Stantec), Conor O'Loughlin (Ramboll), and Matthew Turner (WSP). 

Emerging Professional of the Year 

Winner: Caroline Reeson (Mott MacDonald). 

Highly commended: Lindsay Borthwick (Arup). 

Shortlisted: Peter Goff (Buro Happold), Kieran Ronnie (AECOM), Ryan David Simmonette (Amey) and Lowri Swygart (WSP). 

Click here to view a full gallery of photos from the evening, including all the winners, on the ACE website.