Bethell was honoured to take home the Construction Apprenticeship Medium/Large Employer of the Year award, a testimony to our commitment to growing our own talent and investing in apprenticeships.

In addition, Bethell was nominated for the Low Carbon Innovator of the Year award, in recognition of the ongoing action we’ve taken as an organisation in achieving our carbon net zero goals.

Bethell’s own Vinny O’Dowd took home the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his 45 years of dedicated and influential service in the region’s civil engineering industry.

Vinny began his career as a Site Engineer, then moved to the Kilroe Group and, in 1991, joined a newly acquired Bethell. Moving through the ranks, he became Managing Director in 2010 and played a pivotal role in developing Bethell’s reputation as a leading civils provider, implementing transformational employee wellbeing policies and apprenticeship programmes, and providing over 200 employment opportunities to date. Transitioning to a semi-retired role in 2022, Vinny continues to provide key support to Bethell’s estimating function, with an aspiration to fully retire in 2024.

Bethell itself was presented with a Highly Commended Project of the Year (>£5m category) award for its project at INEOS Inovyn, constructing additional wellheads for the extraction of brine and a series of new haul roads to increase capacity and accessibility across the site using over 400m3 of structural concrete and 10,000 tonnes of aggregate.

Due to the complex and challenging nature of the works, a collaborative approach with multiple subcontractor partners was required.

Bethell hit a treble with another Highly Commended award given to Graduate Quantity Surveyor Connah Evans who joined Bethell in 2016 as an apprentice groundworker.

Connah worked on several projects, including the University of Central Lancashire Campus, Eastway Retail Hub and various United Utilities schemes, building a wealth of operational knowledge. Later, he chose to progress his career by obtaining an HNC in Construction and a degree in Quantity Surveying at Salford University, advancing to become a Trainee Quantity Surveyor within Bethell’s Commercial Department.

Delivered in partnership with Bolton Council and TfGM, the Manchester Road Gateway scheme was awarded the Environmental/Sustainability Award for delivering highway junction improvements across Bolton.

As well as creating a safer walking and cycling network throughout the heart of the town centre, the scheme delivered a range of environmental benefits, both in terms of sustainable construction and the delivery of a low-carbon travel network to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home and opt for a carbon-friendly alternative such as walking or cycling.

Victoria Derbyshire, who joined Bethell as our Quality and Compliance Manager in June 2021, was presented with the Emerging Professional Award at this evening’s presentation.

Leading Bethell’s quality department, she was recognised for her leadership, involvement in the development and implementation of our Geopal platform and dedication to her profession.

Bethell’s Josh Holmes was awarded “Level 2 Construction Apprentice of the Year” at the 2022 Construction Apprenticeship Awards held at Salford City College’s FutureSkills at MediaCityUK campus.

Josh is a Groundworker Apprentice working with the team at Manchester Airport delivering projects as part of our Minor Civils Framework and was nominated for his dedication and passion towards Bethell and the industry throughout his apprenticeship.

We understand the importance of investing in early careers and growing from within – so to see such quality recognised in our apprentice team is incredible!

This achievement is something to be truly proud of.

A huge congratulations to Toby Foster who also made it through to the finals of the Level 2 category.

The award was presented at the North West CECA Awards Dinner to the team for the delivery of the Slack Road, Emergency Sewer Repairs project, a project delivered for United Utilities following a substantial collapse of a Victorian wastewater sewer pipeline beneath the road, which caused extensive consequential damage to the surrounding highway infrastructure.

Bethell worked endlessly to ensure homes were safe from the collapse by stabilising the failed road and carrying out investigations that determined a complete section of the pipeline would require replacing. Congratulations to the construction team for delivering one of the most complex design and build projects undertaken by Bethell, the award is highly deserved.

We’re proud to announce that our University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) scheme has won the prestigious Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) “Project of the Year” 2022 Award for the North-West region!

Most recently we were nominated for the Safety and Wellbeing Award at the CIHT Awards in April 2022. Bethell went on to win the award, further evidencing our continuous investments into the latest innovations to keep Bethell sites the safest in the UK in alignment with current health, safety and wellbeing practises.

This award recognises our policy initiatives that contribute to the safety and wellbeing improvements in the highway and transportation sector.