The awards celebrate those that make the construction industry a great place to work. There are 17 categories, each aimed at individuals and organisations who have worked to improve employment practices.

VolkerRail is shortlisted for:

• Apprentice of the Year (Rebecca Jackson)
• Health, Safety & Wellbeing Initiative of the Year (BROS programme)
• Project Team of the Year (Quality Team)
• Excellence in Learning & Development
• Best Place to Work Contractor Award.

Rebecca has worked for VolkerRail for six years, and has recently completed her financial apprenticeship degree. Rebecca is now part our career pathways project, to promote and encourage future apprenticeships within finance.

The Building Relationships on Site (BROS) initiative was developed to help site based operatives talk about mental health and identify changes in their colleague’s behaviour. The initiative has had huge success, with engagement now at over 80%.

The quality team look after thousands of safety critical procedures and fosters a culture of continuous improvement within our project teams. Utilising the complementary strengths of each member, the team powers social connections through events and proactive projects, to build a sense of pride in right first time delivery.

We are committed to nurturing our people’s potential, and drive learning and development by providing hundreds of different courses, centred around academic, soft skills and behavioural development. This resulted in 79% of employees undertaking at least one level of training in 2022.

VolkerRail’s managing director, Steve Cocliff said: “The rail sector is transitioning into a modern, people-centred and technologically driven industry, and we need to stand out from the crowd to attract the best into this sector.

“We are extremely honoured to be shorted in this year Construction News Workforce Awards, which helps to showcase our people’s achievements but also the efforts made across our business to be an employer of choice. Good luck to all finalists.”

The awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 16 November at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, London.