|
This year saw the establishment of the first Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) Training Awards Ceremony which took place at the Hilton in Coventry on 24 May and has proved to be a massive success for this area of the industry. As well as seeking out the best of the best, the awards have proved that there are a huge number of people who have been quietly working away to ensure that the building controls industry is one of the top places to work.
It has also highlighted the success of the BCIA technical training programme, which has been running for only three years and has led to 876 module certificates being awarded. To date the training programme has awarded 135 Technical Certificates and 54 Advanced Technical Certificates, with each student earning their qualification by successfully passing an examination at each module stage.
As I am sure you are aware BSEE has supported these industry awards because we feel that it is such an important area of the industry, and with training across the industry in relatively short supply it’s great to see the BCIA awarding the people who have put in that extra bit of effort to make their industry a better place to work.
The winners
It is always difficult to pick a winner and particularly when all of the entrants were of such a high calibre, but you can’t have awards without a winner so here they are.
Building Controls Engineer of the Year
This award was open to all engineers within the industry regardless of how long they had worked within it. Sponsored by Trend Control Systems, this award proved to be one of the most difficult with each entrant showing not only a high level of skills but also an exceptional level of commitment to their industry.
The winner in this category was David Kitching of Siemens Building Technologies who started work in the building controls industry in 1968, amassing over 38 years of experience and progressing from apprentice to commercial director in that time.
David Smithson who nominated David for the award said: “What really impresses me about David is that at the age of 62 he still shows the same level of enthusiasm and limitless energy as he did when he was younger. He still produces a vast number of new innovative ideas and concepts and I believe that his long term commitment to the building controls industry and hard work deserve recognition.”
David was the inaugural Chairman of the Building Controls Group and represented the UK in the European Market forum on a number of energy levels; he also chaired the DTI initiative on Standard Controls Protocols and formed the BEMS centre.
Best Overall Technical Training Student
This category was judged by the BCIA’s technical trainer, Keith Doherty, but the standard was so high that Keith selected not one but three winners.
The overall winner for achieving ‘Best Results’ throughout the last year was Simon Cliffe of TAC Satchwell. Along with the other award winners Simon will receive valuable funding from BCIA members for future training.
Certificate awards were also presented to Phil Barker of Nobbs and Jones for ‘Progress and Achievement in a new career path’ and to Geoff Ward of Sheffield Hallam University for ‘Good all round achievement in a training room’.
“Of particular satisfaction to me during the short time that the BCIA training programme has been running” said Keith Doherty, “is the speed with which knowledge of the courses has spread outside of the industry. Every year I see more contractors and facilities managers wanting to become better informed about building controls.”
Initiative Award
This award was sponsored by Resource Data Management and was open to people involved in contracts that regularly demonstrate initiative in their work. This was another difficult winner to choose but standing out from the rest was Alan Perry of Astral Control Services whose attention to detail has led to a number of successes for his company.
Alan Jones who nominated Alan for the award said: “Alan has been with Astral for five years and in that time he has displayed exceptional leadership skills. His real strength can be found in his dedication to each and every project and Alan takes a personal pride in ensuring that every installation is engineered to deliver the best possible efficiencies for our customers.”
Alan is clearly a well deserving recipient of this award and one who leads by example within a team which goes beyond ensuring that they ‘just’ do a good job. Their extra attention to detail and recommendations to customers mean that this award for initiative has found itself a truly deserving home.
Frank Dennis OBE Marketing Award
The Frank Dennis OBE Marketing Award was developed in memory of Frank Dennis who died in 1989. Frank worked tirelessly on behalf of the HEVAC Association of FETA and was a driving force in establishing government links so that FETA’s voice would be heard. His regard throughout the industry was such that following his death colleagues moved to establish the Frank Dennis Trust.
“He was a marketing man of the old school and specialised in export,” explained Gerry Stapley, Chairman of the Frank Dennis Trust, “working for leading instrumentation manufacturers including Searle Products and Temperature Ltd.”
Throughout his fifty years in the HVACR industry Frank Dennis proved to be a committed advocate of the importance of sales and marketing training, alongside accepted technical training. One of the Trust’s first activities was to provide marketing bursaries for the Institute of Marketing enabling worthy applicants to further develop or commence a career in marketing. “This has now evolved to supporting the BCIA Training Awards,” said Gerry Stapley, “and the Trust is particularly pleased to see that the personal effort that Frank invested in raising professional standards within the building services industry is being continued by another association within the FETA organisation.”
The winner of this very special award was Uwe Schlenker from Honeywell Building Controls who was responsible for developing the CentraLine brand. If you are familiar with the CentraLine brand then you will know that it is both distinctive and unique, something which was decided from an early stage in order to differentiate the brand both from Honeywell and competitors. 18 months after the original brief CentraLine was established in 14 markets throughout Europe, with 130 companies appointed as CentraLine partners. Harry Swinbourne, Business Unit Manager, Building Automation Products for Honeywell Building Controls who nominated Uwe for the award says: “Uwe’s innovative approach and broad marketing efforts were invaluable in the success of the brand and continue to assists its staff and partners in maintaining this high level of success.”
Such a high achievement in a relatively short space of time meant that Uwe stood head and shoulders above the rest and was someone who truly deserved the Frank Dennis OBE Marketing Award.
Industry Newcomer
The award for Industry Newcomer was sponsored by Siemens Building Technologies and was specifically for someone who entered the industry in the last 12 months.
The winner in this category was Graham Paul from Westminster Controls Ltd who despite having very little industry expertise, made a real difference to Westminster within months of joining the company.
At his own instigation Graham devised a sales tool which enabled his customers to gain a full appreciation of the components required in specifying a building controls system. As a result consultants and contractors can specify with a higher degree of accuracy leading not only to better customer satisfaction but also an increase in repeat orders for Westminster.
John Quinn who nominated Graham for the award said: “The benefits to the company have been exceptional growth in our customer’s database, fine tuning sales targets and probably the most important aspect, the production of accurate projections that are enabling the company to plan future growth.”
Training Advocate of the Year
Every industry needs an advocate for training, and in an industry where many people are only just beginning to realise the benefits which training brings, this is probably more important than ever. This award was destined for an individual who has demonstrated their commitment to building controls training, and the fact that these awards took place at all proves beyond all doubt that the winner, Doug Robins, President of the BCIA, was the right man for the job.
Sponsored by Honeywell Control Systems, this was possibly one of the most important awards of the evening, which further proved that both Doug’s and the BCIA’s commitment to training will ensure that we will continue to have skilled employees in the industry for many years to come.
The BSEE Special Award
As a judge for the awards one thing which was noticeable was the quality of the candidates nominated. And while in my opinion everyone deserved an award for their commitment to the industry, the fact remains that only one person can be a winner. The BSEE Special Award was a very difficult one to choose as it was judged by myself from all of the nominated candidates. One person who stood out from the rest was Adam Sacre from Ashdown Control Services whose sheer persistence and determination to succeed in his career path have meant that he is now gaining an enviable reputation with Ashdown customers both old and new.
Adam joined Ashdown Control Services under their Advanced Modern Apprenticeship Scheme six and a half years ago and spent the following years in the company’s workshop assembling and wiring control panels and assisting service and commissioning engineers on construction sites. His apprenticeship included further education by day release and after successfully gaining a Level 3 NVQ in Engineering Installation and Commissioning, he enrolled in the BCIA Technical Training Programme where he completed the first three modules providing him with a Building Controls Engineer qualification.
It doesn’t stop there because Adam’s determination will undoubtedly take him further along his chosen career path. Although it was a difficult decision to make, Adam deserves this award not just for all that he has achieved but also because he is a fine example of just how important training is for the industry and hopefully he will become a name which other companies will remember when they are allocating a budget to next years training – well done Adam.
Moving forward
The most important part of any training awards is what people take away from them, and I think that the BCIA training awards have some very important messages for the industry. The people who have been nominated are all ordinary people like you and me who have been going about their jobs on a daily basis. The difference lies in their commitment to the industry.
As the industry becomes more and more competitive it is very easy to look after yourself and develop tunnel vision, but as these winners demonstrate, by sharing your skills there is so much more to be gained both for yourself and the industry as a whole. So if you take nothing more away from these awards at least acknowledge the fact that as an industry we need to work together to ensure that it continues to progress and find a solution to the many problems out there. The addition of training is an essential part of this and one which we can’t afford to ignore.
