Finalists for APM Awards 2011 are announced

The candidates looking to get their hands on the much coveted APM Project Management Awards trophy at the ceremony taking place at the Brewery in London on 20th October 2011 have been announced. The three organisations competing for the Project Management Company of the Year Award will be Moorhouse, Arup and Turner & Townsend. This category is jointly sponsored this year by Hiscox and Lovat Insurance Brokers, the latter offering a professional indemnity facility to project managers, which they feel is essential for any individual or company involved in project management. Elizabeth Dunning from Lovat Insurance Brokers said: Project managers must show professionalism, accountability and commitment and the companies they work for need to lead the way managing and supporting this level of competence for all staff and projects. We are excited to be involved in the professions most prestigious awards event and wanted to support those companies which are actively maintaining those professional standards. Chris Parker, Regional Manager at Hiscox adds: At Hiscox we specialise in insuring professional people and organisations, so it was a natural choice to co-sponsor an award which recognises those who stand out amongst their peers for their project management professionalism.

Consultancy Turner & Townsend also have two projects in the prestigious Project of the Year category with their KPMG Project Gold and University of Exeter Business School projects respectively. The category, sponsored by Siemens, also features the much publicised Barclays Cycle Hire project from Transport for London.

With the Olympics just around the corner there is no surprise that the sporting event will feature in the evenings celebrations in some way. Openreach (BT Plc) have been shortlisted in the Programme of the Year category, sponsored by Program Framework, with their London 2012 Openreach Programme. Also vying for the award are the Borough of Poole with their Customers First Programme and Ministry of Defence for their Regional Command (South West) Afghan National Security Forces Transformation Program.

Openreach (BT Plc) feature again in the Young Project Manager of the Year category, sponsored by Aikona, with Mark Heston fighting it out with William Sargeant from Qedis and Robert Williams from Davis Langdon for the award that recognises rising talent.

In the future these promising young project professionals will hopefully be looking to feature in the Project Manager of the Year category, which is sponsored by Acando. This much coveted accolade is being contested between Andrew Davison and Nick Heald both from Turner & Townsend and Paul Arnold from NATS.

This year BAE Systems are sponsoring the entire Academic Awards section as they are partnering the profession in furthering project management professionalism through education. This includes the Geoffrey Trimble Award with the shortlist of Lindsay Walker from AMEC, Onaburekhan Isoze from University of Sunderland and Howard Dickel from British Telecom. The Brian Willis Award will also be presented on the night. Peter Fielder, MD, Performance Excellence at BAE Systems said: "BAE Systems are proud to continue supporting the APM Awards which recognise the very best of project management professionalism throughout our industry. The APM is focused on standards, best practices and continuous improvement and BAE Systems are committed to supporting the development of the project management profession.

The Community Project of the Year category, sponsored by Project magazine, includes Turner & Townsend for the Brighouse and Sowerby Bridge Pool and Fitness Centres, CCG (Scotland) Ltd for Blochairn Road and Costain Group PLC for Church Village Bypass.

Overseas Project of the Year features the Transforming Dublin Airport Programme from Turner & Townsend, along with The Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (DFID) from Adam Smith International and BT Asia Pacific Portfolio Programme from Moorhouse.

Other awards to be presented on the night include the BNFL Award, International Relief and Development Project of the Year sponsored by Fujitsu, and the prestigious Sir Monty Finniston Award, which is the equivalent to a lifetime achievement award recognising those who have contributed significantly to the profession.

Nick Johns, Deputy Head of Judges, said: Once again, the judges were impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge shown in many of the submissions, which made the judging both challenging and difficult. Very well done to the finalists and we wish you the best of luck on the night. Wed like to thank the other entrants for your submissions this year and we look forward to receiving further entries from you in 2012.

Join in the celebrations and book your place at the professions most glamorous event hosted by TV presenter Angela Rippon.

See the complete shortlist of the APM Project Management Awards 2011 finalists.