MCLAUGHLIN & Harvey is celebrating winning three awards at the Considerate Constructors Scheme’s 2023 Leading Lights Awards.
Held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, the awards recognise sites, organisations, and individuals who have gone above and beyond the code of considerate practice in the areas of community, environment, and workforce.
The company was presented awards for its work on West Asset Resource Centre (ARC) on behalf of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service; its Eden Campus project in Kingston Upon Thames; and an individual award for site agent, Matthew McAdam.
Improving lives and creating legacies was at the heart of the community matters programme at the Scottish Fire and Rescue West Arc project, McLaughlin & Harvey explained.
Partnering with local community groups, the firm targeted its resources directly to those in crisis, supporting hundreds of people experiencing the high cost of living and ongoing cuts to local services.
Initiatives included a community lunch providing 100 hot meals; volunteering at a local foodbank; theatre ticket donations to tackle social isolation in the elderly; and monetary support to other charities and social enterprises.
Delivering a positive impact to individuals and families experiencing isolation and poverty, the programme has generated £6.67 million in social value and inspired teams to deliver similar initiatives across other projects.
The firm’s Eden Campus project scooped an award in the physical wellbeing category. McLaughlin & Harvey explained that it prides itself on being a good employer and considers the health, safety and wellbeing of both its workforce and those affected by its activities, fundamental to its business. The Eden Campus project saw the firm work with the building’s end user, Unilever, to help create a positive and proactive health, safety, and wellbeing culture.
Working together the teams co-designed and implemented an employee engagement programme, supporting staff affected by the rising cost of living with donations and discounted Unilever products, uplifting morale with an ice cream van, and upskilling 226 individuals through CPD courses.
The initiative has gained an ‘overwhelmingly’ positive response and is expected to put £6,772 back into the community, increasing further as the engagement plan develops.
Site agent and STEM ambassador, Matthew McAdam received the Individual Champion Award in the community category for his Snowy Waring The Explorer initiative.
Matthew delivered a ‘highly-engaging’ and ‘thought-provoking’ STEM programme to raise awareness and educate children on the importance of civil engineering and sustainable construction. Inspired by the Frozen Planet 2 TV series, Matthew used his professional network to find the resources to send ‘Snowy’, a local school mascot, on a round-trip to Antarctica. Matthew took the time to write a regular blog to accompany the adventure, he created a series of supporting resources and hosted a number of STEM events at local schools.
Highlighting the damaging impact of climate and sea level change, and the significance of designing and constructing projects sustainably and responsibly to protect our planet, Matthew is inspiring a new climate-conscious generation.
Commenting on the award wins, Alastair Lambe, McLaughlin & Harvey group SHEQ director, said, “We’re proud to have accepted these awards in front of our industry peers, showcasing the efforts of our teams and individual employees to go above and beyond on our projects. The wins reflect the added value McLaughlin & Harvey creates for society through our business operations to improve the environment, economy and social well-being.
“McLaughlin & Harvey is committed to improving the image of the industry by raising standards, building trust and ensuring that all our projects are working to the core values of the Considerate Constructor Scheme.”
