Margaret Conway of McAleer & Rushe wins UK Construction Manager of the Year 2017

Margaret Conway of McAleer & Rushe has won both her Gold category medal and the coveted overall ‘Construction Manager of the Year Award’ (CMYA) at a prestigious UK Awards event.

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has been running the awards for 39 years, with Margaret beating 84 finalists and 8 other gold medallists to take the coveted title.

Margaret’s achievement is all the more remarkable because it was her first role as a construction manager, working on the £22m nine storey office block at 9 Adelaide Street in Belfast City Centre which McAleer & Rushe both developed and constructed.

Margaret Conway of McAleer & Rushe

Working with the client Belfast City Council, Margaret delivered considerable cost savings of over £1m by reducing the height of the building and adapting the existing raft foundations for the new superstructure, as well as completing the 80-week project two months early with a clean health and safety record and an Excellent BREEAM rating.

McAleer & Rushe dominated this year’s CMYA which was held in the Grosvenor House Hotel in London by picking up two further medals with Michael Yohanis and Paddy Connolly winning Gold and Silver respectively within the Leisure and Retail category. Michael won the Gold medal for his work on the construction of the £20m Adagio Royal Mile hotel in Edinburgh with Paddy winning the silver medal for his work on the £25m Holiday Inn in Manchester.

Winners Paddy Connolly, Margaret Conway and Michael Yohanis

Margaret’s success which saw her being recognised as the first woman to win the title, follows that of her colleague Paul Marlow who was the youngest ever CMYA winner in 2016 for a £29 million student accommodation project in Stratford, East London.

Commenting on the team’s achievements, Martin Magee, Managing Director, McAleer & Rushe said, “The success of Margaret, Michael and Paddy at this year’s CMYA is truly outstanding.  These Awards demonstrate the diversity, inclusivity, commitment and expertise of our employees and our teams and we are immensely proud of their achievements.  Investing in our people, developing their experience and nurturing them in their areas of interest and expertise is at the heart of our success and central to our back to back CMYA wins.”

More in the next print issue of Plant & Civil Engineer