This year’s champions were presented with their certificates and trophies at a prestigious awards lunch hosted earlier today (Wednesday 15 May), by television presenter and engineer Kate Bellingham at London’s Park Lane Hilton.

There were 10 categories of award followed by two special awards:

The winning individuals and organisations were:

• Manager of the Year sponsored by Radius Systems - Carly Gilchrist, Fulcrum Pipelines
• Engineer of the Year sponsored by British Gas - Jonathan Strain, Firmus Energy
• Young Person’s Achievement Award sponsored by Towngas - Ben Kuchta, Quantic Corporation
• Leadership Award sponsored by SGN - Jane Haswell, Pipeline Integrity Engineers
• Safety Award sponsored by the Gas Industry Safety Group (GISG) - National Grid Grain LNG for Breaking Safety Records
• Customer Service Award sponsored by Penspen - Wales & West Utilities and Morrison Utility Services
• Innovation Award sponsored by Rayden Engineering - Sustainable Vehicle Auxiliary Power System by Cadent in collaboration with Bri-Stor Systems and Perpetual V2G Systems
• Product of the Year sponsored by Morrison Utility Services - VSRT Vertical Steam Boiler by Fulton
• Project of the Year - H21 by Northern Gas Networks in collaboration with Cadent, SGN, Wales & West Utilities, DNV GL and the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL)
• Company of the Year sponsored by Wales & West Utilities - SGN

Special awards:

• Special Recognition Award - Mike Foster, EUA

The judges decided that Mike was worthy of receiving the special recognition award for his tireless campaigning on behalf of the gas industry.  

• Outstanding Achievement Award - Chris Train

The judges said: “Chris is an engineer with over 35 years’ experience in the energy sector. He has been at the centre of several fundamental changes to the way the UK’s gas network is structured and operates. Throughout his career, he has provided strong leadership and worked tirelessly for the benefit of the sector and to keep customers safe and warm.”

The Gas Industry Awards have been uncovering extraordinary talent and highly innovative work for over 20 years.

Helen Bray, President of EUA, said: “What a great opportunity for us all to learn from innovative ideas and leaders across the industry. The awards have inspired me to think about how the winning concepts could be applied in different contexts.”

Event organisers IGEM and EUA offer their thanks to the sponsors of the awards lunch, Cadent and Smarter Metering Services, and those organisations who sponsored each category of award.

Antony Green, President of IGEM, said: “Once again, the Gas Industry Awards has delivered a worthy set of winners. As always, the caliber of the shortlisted entrants was extremely high, but our judges have worked hard to identify the best of the best for 2019. I’m especially heartened to see the winners display a diverse mix of talents across the spectrum of gas operations, which I think demonstrates the level of commitment to safety, future technology, and professional excellence evident in the industry today.” 

Details of the 2020 awards will be available on the IGEM and EUA websites soon.