A night to remember

The very best in the business got together at the Water Industry Achievement Awards last month. It was a night of laughter, which recognised the wealth of talent the country has to offer


The annual Water Industry Achievement Awards (WIAA) dinner has secured its place as a key event in the industry’s calendar. Organised by sister journals Water & Wastewater Treatment and WET News, the event celebrates the very best efforts of companies across the UK.

The awards dinner took place at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on 21 May. Following a drinks reception, comedian and host for the night Jason Manford, star of Channel 4’s Eight Out of Ten Cats, soon had the 250 guests chortling in their seats.

Jack Carnell, managing director of South Staffordshire Water, spoke about a visit to Africa with Water Aid – reminding the audience of the global importance of water and sanitation. An impressive £3,320 was raised for the charity through a raffle and auction, enough to provide two school sanitation blocks for 400 children in Nepal.

The success of the night was reflected by the fact that revellers stayed until late. Many enjoyed a long chat over celebratory drinks, while others took their chance on the roulette and blackjack tables at the WIAA casino.

The winners

Southern Water scooped the Partnership Initiative of the Year for the second year in a row, this time with 4Delivery, Holleran Mouchel Parkman, Clancy Docwra and Morrison Utility Services. The judges were impressed by the synergy that the partnering companies had built up in delivering the utility’s £1.8B capital development programme.

RPS Water and eSAY picked up the Innovative Technology Award, co-sponsored by Polypipe Water Management Solutions and White Young Green, for their mobile leak detection technology, Pinpoint (see April’s WWT).

Southern also took the Community Campaign of the Year award for the way in which it continues to find innovative ways of keeping its Learn to Swim campaign topical.

The Sustainability Award, sponsored by Farrer Consulting, went to South West Water. The utility was commended for its initiative to improved water efficiency among business customers.

Yorkshire Water’s Risk Management training programme earned it the People Initiative of the Year Award for the second consecutive year.

Making it a hat-trick, Southern Water took the Customer Care Initiative award, along with Clancy Docwra, for minimising customer disruption as they replace Brighton’s 150-year-old water network. The award was sponsored by ITT Water & Wastewater.

May Gurney Integrated Services’ Making a Difference initiative won the Health & Safety Initiative of the Year award. Outstanding Contribution to the Water Industry went to Richard Ackroyd, chief executive of Scottish Water.

WWT and WET News would like to thank the award sponsors – Farrer Consulting, ITT Water & Wastewater, Polypipe Water Management Solutions, Siemens and White Young Green – for their support, and the judges who had the difficult task of picking the winners. Most importantly, we would like to thank all those companies that took the time and trouble to enter the Water Industry Achievement Awards.

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