Mace’s Frank Connolly is Construction Manager of the Year

Mace operations director Frank Connolly has been crowned overall winner of the 2020 Construction Manager of the Year Awards (CMYA), run by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

The ceremony
was held virtually last night, hosted by TV presenter and architect George
Clarke, with CIOB CEO Caroline Gumble and President Mark Beard giving out the
gongs.

Connolly wowed
the judges with his successful delivery of the 13-storey Centre Building for
the London School of Economics (LSE).

He beat 60 other finalists in nine categories, impressing with his ingenuity, problem-solving and goodwill on the LSE project.

Taking just
over two years, this home for political sciences costing £82m is the largest
building commissioned in the LSE’s 125-year history, and the first building on
the campus to achieve a BREAAM ‘outstanding’ sustainability rating.

Caroline
Gumble, CIOB chief executive said: “The Construction Manager of the Year
competition seeks out the very best of leadership and talent in our sector and
this year is no exception. Frank Connolly’s work was outstanding, with judges
commending his “leadership, passion and commitment”.

“Construction
managers are instinctively problem-solvers, who can juggle conflicting priorities
and oversee a huge range of issues, including the maintenance of quality
standards, the large investment from a client, the health and wellbeing of
their co-workers and the interests of the local community.

“Frank’s
efforts are a shining example for what the best of construction can offer. He’s
both hugely talented and humble and an inspiration during this particularly
challenging time. My heartfelt congratulations to Frank on winning this
prestigious honour.”

Following
the announcement at the virtual awards event, Connolly said: “What a fantastic
honour to have received this prestigious award, something I had dreamt about
for many years. Thank you CIOB for your perseverance and determination to
ensure these awards took place. This was a special project delivered to
exacting standards, and something I am very proud of.”

During the ceremony,
awards were handed out across all nine categories, as well as in two new awards,
the Rising Stars, and the President’s Award, where CIOB Past President Charles
Egbu gave the gong to Sir James Wates in recognition of his services to his
company, the institute and the industry.

The full list of winners is on the CMYA website.

A report on Frank Connolly’s Centre Building project and all the CMYA winners will be in the January 2021 issue of CM.