C23 Awards 2023 – Announcing the Winners

EKFB held its second annual C23 Awards on Thursday 16 November. The night was an opportunity to reward, recognise and celebrate inspirational people, behaviours, and projects across the C23 Project, the 80km central section of Britain’s new high speed railway.

Around 450 people from across the IPT attended the ceremony at Silverstone Race Circuit in Northamptonshire and applauded the 15 winners and 30 highly commended people, teams and projects, as well as all other shortlisted submissions.

The C23 Awards are open to everyone working across the C23 programme. Each year the 15 awards are split into three award themes: Our People, Business Improvement and Design and Delivery. This year an unprecedented total of 580 nominations were submitted ahead of the deadline in July.

See this year’s winners below:

Design and Delivery

Best Environmental Sustainability Initiative

• The Winner:

  • Earthmoving Plant Anti Idle Campaign – Blackwell

• Highly Commended:

  • C23 Carbon Management Programme

  • Sustainable Procurement Management

• Shortlisted:

  • GeoPura Hydrogen Power Units

  • GAP Silt Treatment Unit – Buckingham Group/Kier Transportation

Best SHWQ Initiative

• The Winner:

  • Spillard Human Detection – Flannery

• Highly Commended:

  • Drill and Burst Pile Cropping – Clancy Docwra

  • Thame Valley Viaduct Safety Improvements – FCCS, EKFB & Pacadar

• Shortlisted:

  • PLINX – EKFB SHW Team

  • C23 Yellow Dumper Exercise

Best Design Initiative

• The Winner:

  • Redesign of Thame Valley Viaduct – FCCS, Ferrovial Technical Dept, EKFB & Pacadar

• Highly Commended:

  • Oxford Canal Viaduct IDR 236.02 – G2S North

  • NCA Vortex Drop Shaft and Trenchless Techniques – ASC

• Shortlisted:

  • Risborough Road Bridge – NC2A Team

  • SCL08 Footbridge Support Framework – Buckingham Group/Kier Transportation

Best Social Value Initiative

• The Winner:

  • The PACE Centre – NC2A Aylesbury Area

• Highly Commended:

  • Great Missenden Regeneration Project – NC2A Team

  • Aylesbury Area Open Doors – NC2A Team

• Shortlisted:

  • Great Moor Sailing Club - Buckingham Group/Kier Transportation

  • Improving disabled access to Chipping Warden Village Hall – G2S Team

  • Stay Safe Be Seen Day – BKJV

  • Plant Operations Skills Bootcamp – Flannery

Best On-Site Supplier

• The Winner:

  • PAM Occupational Health

• Highly Commended:

  • Flannery Plant Hire

  • HW Martin

• Shortlisted:

  • Bauer Keller JV

  • Retrobridge

Business Improvement

Best Digital Initiative

• The Winner:

  • Open Drainage Modelling Tool - ASC

• Highly Commended:

  • GIS 2D Asset Extent Asset Footprint Automation – GIS Team

  • Efficiencies in Data Tagging – ASC

• Shortlisted:

  • Information Management Team and Laminar Projects

  • smartCost2 – EKFB Project Controls

Best Efficiency

• The Winner:

  • smartGIS Platform – GIS Team

• Highly Commended:

  • New Drug and Alcohol Testing Programme – PAM Occupational Health 

  • Thame Valley Viaduct Pier Design – FCCS & Pacadar

• Shortlisted:

  • Paperless Reporting using a Cloudbased System – Walters

  • 'Allo' Cloud­based Solution – DRMC

Best Cost-Saving Initiative

• The Winner:

  • Land Management and Handback – Land Team & Dalcour McClaren

• Highly Commended:

  • Thame Valley Viaduct Manhole Boxes – FCCS

  • Landscaping and Planting Initiative – Environmental Design Team

• Shortlisted:

  • QUA36 Efficiencies – Calvert Design Team

  • Platform Optimisation Initiative – BKJV

Best Innovation

• The Winner:

  • Speak Up Key Fobs – Marc Boulton & Calvert SHW Team

• Highly Commended:

  • GS6 Inspection Dashboard – G2S Utilities Team

  • DIGGER and the Earthworks Control Room – Earthworks Team

• Shortlisted:

  • Twin Tremie System - BKJV T2G Team

  • Cold Weather Concreting Procedures – Calvert Team

Best Collaborative Initiative

• The Winner:

  • The A43 Scheme – Interfaces Team

• Highly Commended:

  • OXD Line & MCJ Shared Corridors – Calvert Team

  • Design Management Initiative (Incremental Gains) – NCA ASC & EKFB Design Teams

• Shortlisted:

  • Growing with communities – Community Planting Initiative – G2S, T2G and CA Engagement Teams

Our People

Speak Up Annual Award

• The Winner:

  • Shahzad Nawaz - Multiskilled Operative

• Highly Commended:

  • Daniel Ciobanu – Supervisor

  • Jamie Hopcraft – Plant Operator

  • Rohit Kumar – Operative

  • Gurmej Singh – Operative

  • Scottie Collins – General Foreman

• Shortlisted:

  • Annabel Wehby – Site Engineer

  • Cliff Davies – Traffic Safety and Control Officer

  • Gary Toone – General Foreman

  • James Bradley – Ecological Clerk of Works

  • Jamie Proctor – Traffic Safety and Control Officer

  • Lee Shepherd – General Foreman

  • Marc Boulton – HSW Advisor

  • Mark Foran – General Foreman

  • Mike Gittins – HS2 Resource Manager

  • Paul Grainger – General Foreman

  • Suzy Bennett – Apprentice Engineer

  • Vanesa Arcacil – Design Manager

Rising Star

• The Winner:

  • Joseph Marsh - Apprentice Engineer

• Highly Commended:

  • Stephanie Melrose – Graduate Engineer

  • Zoe Pace – Engagement Team Coordinator

• Shortlisted:

  • Alex Cox – Senior Safety, Health and Wellbeing Advisor

  • James Kemsley – Engagement Advisor

Inspirational Leader

• The Winner:

  • Laurence Kenny – Works Manager

• Highly Commended:

  • Michelle Oldfield – GIS Lead

  • Richard Bennett – Area Commercial Lead

• Shortlisted:

  • Richard Smith – Section Design Lead

  • Scott Neno – Project Technical Lead/Design Project Manager

Team of the Year

• The Winner:

  • CA Earthworks Team

• Highly Commended:

  • Blackwell Training and Legacy Teams

  • Risborough Road Team – NC2A

• Shortlisted:

  • Agricultural Liaison Team

  • C23 Community Engagement Team

Individual Performance

• The Winner:

  • Jamie Wadsworth – Supervisor/Ganger

• Highly Commended:

  • Joseph Walker – Senior Information Controller

  • Mike Gittins – HS2 Resource Manager

• Shortlisted:

  • Bill Strachan – Safety, Health and Wellbeing Manager

  • Jenny Endersby – Technical Information Manager

  • Chris Law – Project Technical Lead

  • Dave Butcher – Engagement Manager