Heron Bros were presented with the ‘Training Award’ at the 2017 Construction Excellence Awards. This award demonstrates Heron Bros’ commitment to training and continual improvement through good people management.

Hosted by the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) in partnership with Specify magazine, the awards Gala Evening was held on Thursday 12 October at the Culloden Hotel & Spa. The Construction Excellence Awards were launched in 1999. Since then they have become the premier event in the Northern Ireland construction calendar. The Awards provide an opportunity to recognise the achievements of the local construction industry and to publicise the substantial contribution that our industry makes to the economy and society in Northern Ireland.

Congratulating Heron Bros, the judges said:

“Again, a fiercely competitive year in the Training category with all shortlisted candidates showing a clear commitment to developing their staff. A significant factor in all contenders was the forward planning of training to meet business objectives and improve the quality of service they provide to their clients. A significant step forward in this year’s contenders was a move to develop core behaviours required for their business as well as the underpinning technical knowledge. Another factor has been the introduction of business-wide data collection to identify and manage training requirements.”

“Heron Bros not only showed how their training programme is tailored to the skills needed to deliver their current and future projects, but showed a direct link to how training has helped achieve and exceed their business objectives over the past years and a plan of how they expect them to continue to develop their future strategy in terms of organisational management, technical capability and overarching organisational culture.”

Grainne O’Kane, HR Manager at Heron Bros commented on the award:

“Heron Bros is delighted to be presented with the ‘Training Award’ at the 2017 Construction Excellence Awards, just three weeks after celebrating Investors in People Platinum accreditation at a presentation ceremony held at Belfast Castle. We are committed to employing the best people to ensure we retain the in-house knowledge and expertise required so that we continue to deliver the high quality service our clients expect. We believe in providing ongoing training and development opportunities for all of our employees and providing a work place environment that inspires them to be the best that they can be. Our approach has resulted in a committed workforce that is dedicated to Building the future together.”

CEF Managing Director John Armstrong commended each of the 13 category award winners for their success against what he described as a ‘time of significant political and economic uncertainty’ for the construction industry in Northern Ireland.

Now in their 18th year, the Construction Excellence Awards continues to go from strength to strength with this year seeing a record number of over 110 entries across all 13 categories.