2023 BCIA Awards winners revealed

The winners of the 2023 Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) Awards were announced at an exclusive ceremony and gala dinner on 4 May at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

This year’s host was actor, comedian and impressionist Jon Culshaw, who entertained guests with a range of hilarious impressions, ranging from Boris Johnson to Donald Trump, and Steven Gerrard to Michael McIntyre. The ceremony itself welcomed the highest attendance yet for a BCIA Awards, with more than 600 guests enjoying fine food, drink, and evening activities, including curling and a game of ‘higher and lower’, organised by immediate past president Terry Sharp.

BCIA President, Graeme Rees’ chosen charity is the Teenage Cancer Trust and an impressive £5,102 was raised on the night of the awards alone.

All eyes were on the stage to see who the worthy recipients of the fiercely contested trophies would be. The first award of the night went to Detail Design Engineering who claimed victory for Building Controls and BEMS Installer of the Year. George Smith of 3MSe took the honours in the Engineer of the Year Category, while Abbie Bewley from InTandem Systems took the coveted Young Engineer of the Year trophy.

New for 2023 was the Apprentice of the Year accolade, and it was Robert Drysdale of InTandem Systems who was victorious. Econowise Drives & Controls won the Energy Management Award for its work on Savills Energy Saving Project with the Best Service and Maintenance Provider accolade awarded to Kendra Energy Solutions.

MK Electric scooped the prize for The Technical Innovation of the Year – Products Award for its innovative solution, Connected Power. Next, the Technical Innovation of the Year – Projects Award went to Siemens for its sterling work on University of Birmingham – Creating the world’s smartest campus while Group Horizon were triumphant in the Contribution to Training Award.

Finally, the Outstanding Contribution Award was presented to Tracey Rushton-Thorpe of Keystone Communications for being an integral part of the BCIA for many years. Tracey was recognised by her peers for her energy, ambition, enthusiasm and passion for the promotion of the building controls industry – particularly for her significant efforts on the BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship and industry training programmes.

Graeme Rees, President of the BCIA, says, “The BCIA Awards 2023 provided another spectacular evening of glitz, glamour and the very best the building controls industry has to offer. The winners on the night came from some very impressive shortlists in extremely tough categories. It was fantastic to see so many guests enjoying the evening and once again the occasion underlined the quality, talent and innovation the building controls sector has to offer.”