Reflecting on 2022: Winning awards and opening new doors
As we ponder what 2023 will have in store for us and the construction community, we are taking a moment to reflect on 2022 and the many successes we shared as a business. From winning awards to opening new doors, it was a year to remember.
And the winner is...
CPW! To begin the awards season, we won Employer of the Year (medium category) at the CIBSE Young Engineers Awards, while design engineer Lewis Coleing scooped second place in the Apprentice of the Year within the degree (Level 5-7) category.
Shortly after our first win, we took home the UK Employer of the Year – Silver (250+ employees) category at the prestigious Investors in People Awards 2022. Recognising the way we empower our teams, the victory demonstrates why our ethos ‘people are our power’ is so important.
Commitment to understanding client aspirations and exemplary collaboration across the project team led to the prestigious National Brownfield Institute at the University of Wolverhampton winning the Project/Initiative of the Year at the CIBSE West Midlands Awards.
In London, senior electrical engineer Kamila Wiatr was runner up in the Inspiring Women in Construction & Engineering awards’ rising star category. Meanwhile, the London office’s work on the Push-Pull House helped secure a RIBA South Award 2022 and RIBA South Sustainability Award 2022.
Driven by industry betterment, we were also pleased to be awarded a RoSPA Silver Award – recognising businesses that achieved a high level of health and safety performance – and a Planet Mark Business Certification for the third year in a row, thanks to our 10% carbon footprint reduction over the last year.
Safe to say, we might need a bigger trophy cabinet.
New chapters
Having previously relied upon design resources in our London and Midlands-based offices to deliver projects across Oxfordshire, we were pleased to announce the opening of a new office in Oxford following several big project wins and positions on major university frameworks.
Co-office lead and Director Carl Standley said: “Having always had a strong connection to Oxfordshire in terms of well-established clients and businesses in the construction industry, we were delighted to secure positions on the University of Oxford’s Capital Projects and Carbon Reduction frameworks. Strengthening relationships over the last two years, through some testing economic periods, meant that the next natural step was to make a full commitment to the region with a new base here.”
New doors also opened in Nottingham, where the team moved to a new city centre office. The flexible office space provides room for a growing team to be creative and collaborative, with larger breakout spaces perfect for varied meeting needs as well as social gatherings. And not to forget the exciting new virtual reality room to bring our projects to life!
Apprenticeships are a great route into engineering, so in 2022 we wanted to showcase the experiences of our apprentices. Established more than 20 years ago, our apprenticeship scheme now makes up more than 15% of our workforce and in the last ten years alone we have brought more than 150 new engineers into the industry. We’re extremely proud of the scheme and the individual stories that stem from it, but it is easier to let the apprentices themselves explain why it’s an excellent route into engineering...
Doing our bit to make a difference
Our commitment to making the world a better place does not stop with our clients and projects, in 2022 we supported communities both local and overseas.
Our colleague Leroy Jeffrey has spent more than five years working to help underprivileged school children in his hometown of St Thomas, Jamaica by refurbishing laptops and donating them to schools and families. Last year, our friends at Associated Architects also donated ten unneeded computers in a brilliant show of cross-industry collaboration.
Speaking about Leroy’s work, Mez Chadry, Head of Bids here at CPW, said: “When we became aware of Leroy’s work in Jamaica, we wanted to help with this fantastic initiative. Therefore, for the past few years CPW has donated laptops to Leroy to be refurbished and distributed to schools in St Thomas. We think it is a great way to help bridge the gap between privileged and underprivileged students.”
In Leicester, through a close relationship with charity Leicestershire Cares, over the last year we have helped build an outdoor learning area at a local special school, transformed the garden of a resident unable to complete the maintenance himself, and offered work experience to a young person in need of support accessing sustained education, training and employment opportunities.
The charity work continues within our offices, with donations from our Christmas raffle for Marie Curie UK reaching £487 (and counting!) and from our Age UK Solihull chocolate bouquet reaching £51.70.
We have of course worked on a number of exciting projects and developments this year – from Birmingham’s tallest building to supporting public sector decarbonisation plans – but we’re particularly proud of our team and our wide-ranging initiatives.
This is just a snapshot of some of the programmes and causes we have supported and successes we have experienced, but it is important to reflect on where you have come from when looking at where you are going.
Anticipating another exciting year ahead, we welcome any organisations that believe we can support them with an engineering matter or a project to reach out!