The ABC Awards 2024 was held at the beautiful St Pancras Renaissance Hotel on the 23rd February 2024, and awarded winners in 5 hotly contested categories geared towards Brickwork Subcontractors, and the tremendous work achieved over the past year.
The awards attracted over 230 guests who were welcomed with a glass of bubbly in The Ladies Smoking Room, where they could network and roam around the beautiful hallways and connecting areas – wondering where they’d seen that grand staircase before…..!
Hotel staff were fantastic, and once dinner had been called, they expertly led everyone through to The Hansom Hall to take their seats for the show. And what a show! Introduced by Meatloaf’s I’d Do Anything for Love, CEO, Eve Livett, and The Association’s Chairman, David Szymanski welcomed everyone to The ABC Awards with passion and warmth, reminding everyone how poignant it was to be celebrating true craftsmanship at a place where founding members of The ABC, Irvine Whitlock, had played an instrumental role in restoring it’s beautiful brickwork. And they weren’t wrong. Everyone felt at ease sitting within the elegant brick walls, and The Association of Brickwork Contractors like a large unconventional family – everyone it it together, and striving for the same goal.
Martin Bayfield was chosen to host the evenings proceedings, which he took in his stride. His cool wit and ability to keep everyone in stitches was met with huge appreciation and respect, and throughout the night, even with a challenging script to follow, he kept the room hanging on to his every word.
After a fun game of Head & Tails, which raised over £2,000 for charity Mates in Mind, Martin was primed to introduce The ABC Awards’ first award category; Bricklaying Apprentice of the Year.
Leviat’s National Business Development Manager, Peter Ashton, took the stage to present the award to the winner, or in this case 2 winners! It transpired that Judges were so torn as to who should win this prestigious award that they plumped to award two apprentices on the night. Both were stand-out at the interview and impressed judges in both their technical and career progression questions.
Bricklayer Apprentice of the Year Winner, Alastair Corbett from Caxton Builders was awarded first.
Alistair was described by Caxton as a “dream to deal with, and his practical trowel skills come naturally to him, and he has an inquisitive nature which will surely take him far. Alistair enjoys researching the different types of decorative features and bonds used in bricklaying and goes out of his way to understand the history of the trade ,which really impressed the judges at his interview. Alistair helps other apprentices too, taking the time to recognise when others are struggling and willing them to complete tasks. He is a listener, and takes onboard advice to improve his knowledge and skill.”
The second award went to Alex-Perez Bunce, an apprentice at Lee Marley Group.
“Alex says that being a bricklayer, to him, is more than just the weekly payslip! It’s a way of expressing himself – like a form of art. He enjoys work at Lee Marley Group and has been challenged on working on complex specifications such as installing Wembley Innovation columns for structural integrity.
Tom Jeffcote, Project Manager at Lee Marley Brickwork, says that Alex often takes drawings home with him to study the areas he will be working on, and always asks relevant questions to increase his knowledge. Alex is always early to site and stays late to get work finished or prepare for the next day.”
Celebrating apprenticeships, and indeed the learners that are on that path, is so important. The Association of Brickwork Contractor members are leading the way with their apprenticeship programmes and commit to taking on more and more young people every year, making it impossible not to celebrate and indulge in. Caxton Builders and Lee Marley Brickwork have obviously put in a lot of effort to enhance training for their apprentices, and both should be proud to have this recognised at The ABC Awards 2024.
Martin Bayfield seamlessly went on to introduce the next sponsor, Keith Aldis, to the stage, CEO, from The Brick Development Association (The BDA), who again, sponsored the Associate Supplier of the Year award. This category winner, unlike the others, was chosen by Brickwork Contractors for thier outstanding commitment and service to the brickwork contractor and to the sector as a whole.
Deserved winners, Keyfix, were blown away with the win, which was evidenced by their celebrations, rumoured to of lasted well into the night!! Fionnuala Murray and John Duffin collected their trowel award from Keith and were even seen being passed the baton from last years winners Grayson. A nice little touch showing how much ABC members value these awards.
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ABC Members chose Keyfix this year based on their award winning non-combustible cavity tray product which brickwork contractors use on the majority of their projects up and down the country. The system, which is “the best on the market”, comes with a great service and a team of dedicated trainers who work tirelessly in colleges and on-sites across the UK demonstrating installation and its importance within the construction process.
The third award, Commitment to Training and Development, was sponsored by ACS Stainless Steel, and Sales Director, Will Bishop was introduced to present the award to the winner. Four companies were shortlisted in this category, and all had to showcase how their business goes above and beyond the norm in relation to their employees, bricklayers and customers through ensuring internal development and training. This is not only central for growth and new work, but also is crucially important in light The Building Safety Act, and the requirement to evidence a competent workforce.
The room erupted when CARA Brickwork took the trophy, showing how many people they had in the room(!), but more so, how much everyone knew that they deserved the win. Neil Allen, not a stranger to awards, strode to collect the trophy from Will and beamed with delight on its arrival.
CARA Brickwork Directors Joey and Neil Allen, both started their journeys in the construction industry as bricklaying apprentices and so understand the importance of giving young people a chance to progress, and have carried this ethos into their current business model. CARA Brickwork have championed social value, and have been instrumental in providing The ABC with introductions to The Ministry of Justice, where programmes have now been set-up at Thorn Cross Prison to train and rehabilitate ex-inmates.
The third award was met with delight and a belly rumble!! Dinner was served, and again, the hotel staff worked their magic to make sure everyone was served at the same time and according to plan.
During the 1.5 hour dinner service, a lot of “working the room” was undertaken! The great thing about this ceremony, is that you can get round to everyone, and manage to have a decent conversation with colleagues. Everyone seemed to know each other, and the atmosphere was full of camaraderie.
After a great dinner service, there was a sense that the second half might become a bit rowdy, but Martin Bayfield played the audience so well and managed to get the room so quiet you could literally hear a pin drop. Martin’s second half was better than his first, and the stories and jokes kept coming, whisking the audience into fits of laughter, and more anticipation for the last two awards.
The next award on the dock was Craftsperson of the Year, and to present the award was Ben Williams from SIG Construction Accessories. This award depicts experienced bricklayers and the two finalists, from Callan Brickwork and Swift Brickwork, were showcased fantastically by Martin.
Glen Norton just pipped the win, with a high commendation awarded to Stephen McCoy for his work on Eight Arches in Dublin. Glen collected the award for his attention to detail at Kensington Palace’s Orangey, a fantastic renovation project in the heart of London.
Glen started his career at the age of 17 where he began working alongside his father. His early exposure to the field was greatly influenced by his family’s deep-rooted involvement in the bricklaying trade. Remarkably, Glen has now imparted his trade skills on to his own sons.
The last award, Project of the Year, was sponsored by Grayson, and Clare Spivey, Sales and Marketing Director, elegantly took to the stage to patiently wait for Martin to announce the shortlist (!)
The shortlist was full of extraordinary brick buildings built by member companies in 2023. All projects were built to a high standard making it very difficult for the judges to choose a winner…. but they had. Clare announced No 8 Harbord Square as the winner and Swift Brickwork, once again, jumped from their table to react to the win.
No 8 Harbord Square is an immaculately finished building, and situated in London’s Canary Wharf where Swift Brickwork were contracted to undertake all the brick, block, stone, masonry support and fire stopping details.
The ground floor retail units and main entrances are set behind tall glazed apertures within a bespoke burgundy glazed brick. Stonework and dental courses are used to dress the base and special bishop-nose glazed bricks were used to transition from piers to transoms. A dense red Furness brick is used on the main façade with glazed square bricks forming a gingham pattern between piers. A subtly lighter facing brick is used on the remaining facades.
It is, of course, an absolute beaut of a building!
