Lanes Group wins Construction News Award double

Lanes Group plc has won two prestigious Construction News Awards.

The UK’s largest independent drainage specialist has won the Specialist Contractor of the Year (Turnover over £100m) and Health and Safety Excellence awards.

The announcement was made at the annual awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, in London, on Thursday 13^th July 2017.

The previous day, Lanes was awarded with its Gold Medal by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents  (RoSPA)for achieving its 8^th consecutive RoSPA Gold Award for health and safety.

The company impressed judges in the Specialist Contractor category with its rapid growth during 2016, combined with a strategy based on investing in the most innovative drainage maintenance technology.

In a formal comment on their decision, the judges said: “Lanes has a genuine passion for its staff and has shown outstanding innovation in a very difficult sector.”

Lanes Utilities, the wastewater network services partner for Thames Water, won the Health and Safety Excellence Award by demonstrating its industry-leading safety initiatives.

These included the introduction of a new Feeling App, which monitors the happiness of its workforce, and provides a way for colleagues to ask for support managing problems they face both in and out of work.

The judges said: ““Lanes offers a great blend of technology, process and people. The Feeling App is a low-cost, high-impact initiative that improves the business and reflects wider industry changes, too.”

Lanes Group Development Director Richard Leigh said: “Winning two Construction News Awards is a testament to the skill and service of all our teams across the UK.

“Our submissions were rigorously tested in presentations and interviews with the judging panel, and we’re delighted to have been found worthy of such an accolade by our peers.

“Our aim is always to push the boundaries, both in terms of business development, and giving our construction customers the best possible service. These awards are a benchmark of the progress we’ve made.”

Lanes Utilities Director Andy Brierley said: “You cannot stand still and hope to succeed when delivering a specialist service like ours, which is where initiatives like the Feeling App come from.

“Health and safety is paramount to the delivery of our service. It’s also about wellbeing in its widest sense. Happy teams work safer. We want our people to enjoy coming to work so they deliver excellent customer service.

“People who enjoy working for us are less likely to leave us, so we can build experienced and stable teams. Embedding a health and safety culture has benefits for all, which I think is what impressed the judges the most.”

Lanes Utilities won the Construction News Health and Safety Excellence Award in 2013 and was also a finalist in 2015.