The CIHT North West Awards are back! The CIHT North West Awards celebrate the very best the region offers across the key areas of highways and transportation. They are open to everyone: members and non-members; small and large organisations; public, private and third sector. The Awards recognise the outstanding contribution that good projects and people make to our daily lives.
Deadline for submissions: 20 March 2026
The CIHT North West Region is holding its Annual Awards Dinner at Parr's Bank Hotel in Warrington on Thursday 14 May 2026.
Submissions will be judged independently, and a shortlist chosen before the winners of the Awards are announced at the CIHT North West Annual Dinner which will take place on Thursday 14 May 2026.
Attend to surround yourself with today's leaders and rising stars for an evening of celebration, networking and opportunities to entertain your clients and business partners.
To make entering the CIHT North West Awards 2026 as straight-forward as possible, we have split the categories across two entry forms. One for project awards and one for people awards. Please find the project and people award categories below:
Project Awards
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People Awards*
*You can nominate yourself or a colleague for any of these awards. |
Submissions deadline: Friday 20 March 2026
The new award recognises a local transport project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative that aligns strongly with CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive.
For a project to be considered ‘local’, it must involve work on, or be directly related to, local services and infrastructure, and demonstrate a meaningful local impact. This may include (but is not limited to) walking, wheeling and/or cycling projects; local roads projects; parking proposals; school projects; road safety initiatives; local bus, ferry, or tram; local train station improvements; enhancements to sustainable travel provision; or behaviour change initiatives.
As this is a new award, entries for projects completed after 1st January 2024 will be accepted.
If you wish to submit a project but have questions regarding eligibility, please contact us at northwest@ciht.org.uk. If CIHT North West considers your submission does not fit the eligibility criteria for this award but, may fit the eligibility for our Regional Transport Project of the Year award, we will contact you to discuss.
The new award recognises a regional transport project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative that aligns strongly with CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive.
For a project to be considered ‘regional’, it must involve work on, or be directly related to, regionally significant infrastructure or significantly enhance regional connectivity or accessibility. This may include (but is not limited to) major improvements to the trunk road, key route or rail networks; improvements to a main bus or train station; improvements to an airport or major ferry port; or a regionally coordinated – including at a City Region level – programme/strategy on one or more mode of transport.
As this is a new award, entries for projects completed after 1st January 2024 will be accepted.
If you wish to submit a project but have questions regarding eligibility, please contact us at northwest@ciht.org.uk. If CIHT North West considers your submission does not fit the eligibility criteria for this award but, may fit the eligibility for our Local Transport Project of the Year award, we will contact you to discuss.
This award recognises a project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative that aligns strongly with CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive, and has made a demonstrable positive impact on the environment or contributed to sustainability.
This Award recognises projects, products, policy initiatives or strategies delivered by the highways and transportation industry that can demonstrate environmental enhancement, environmental stewardship, a quantifiable contribution to local or regional biodiversity net gain (BNG) or supports sustainable working and living in the region.
In evaluating submissions, the judges will consider:
· The scale and impact of the environmental, biodiversity and sustainability benefits
· What level of innovation was involved in the process, and how it was determined to be innovative?
· How were objectives set for the process, how were they defined, and what was the level of achievement against these?
· Whether environmental, biodiversity and sustainability requirements were embedded into any procurement process associated with the process.
· How implementation was achieved, and were environmental consideration, biodiversity awareness and sustainable behaviours evidenced throughout.
· Is the process repeatable, scalable and consistent, i.e. could it be rolled forward or the implementation expanded to deliver greater benefit?
This award recognises a project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative that aligns strongly with CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive, and has contributed to improvements or enhancements in the area of safety and well-being.
This Award recognises projects and policy initiatives or strategies that have contributed to either safety improvements in the highways and transportation industry or to the improvement of the health and well-being of an organisation's workforce. Safety improvements can address casualty reduction and improved safety for all users, including pedestrians. Initiatives for the enhancements of well-being can deal with physical, emotional, social, spiritual or intellectual matters, aimed, for example, at personal welfare, morale and productivity improvements.
A major component of this award is to see safety and well-being best practice identified, shared and celebrated for the benefit of the wider industry.
In evaluating submissions, the judges will consider:
· Evidence that the issue being addressed has been fully researched, and its scale and scope has been quantified.
· How innovation has been incorporated in the process, whether this innovation builds on previous achievement or is it a new and novel approach.
· What evaluation has been undertaken, what was the measure of success and what quality parameters were applied
· In the future what further benefits or enhancements could be envisaged to make the process even more successful.
· Is the process repeatable, scalable and consistent, i.e. could it be rolled forward or the implementation expanded to deliver greater benefit?
This award recognises a transport project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative that demonstrates ‘best in class’ delivery and aligns strongly with CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive.
This Award is to recognise and encourage imaginative concepts and excellence within the highways and transportation industry where a marked positive benefit has been achieved. It can relate to design, construction, management, product development or any other facet of the industry.
In evaluating submissions, the judges will consider:
· To what extent the process demonstrate enterprise and innovative thinking
· How was implementation achieved and were there any novel or unique elements
· What performance measures were put around the process
· Is there a potential for wider implementation across and beyond the sector
· What were the benefits to the innovator and stakeholders
· What was the benefit cost ration associated with the process
This award recognises an individual that has made a significant impact on the industry and that demonstrates a commitment to the CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive.
As part of our drive to be a more equitable organisation, both regionally and nationally, we have decided to combined the two categories of Emerging Professional and Apprentice of the Year into a single award, to reflect that fact that the gap between traditional apprenticeships and early professional career paths have narrowed to a point of near alignment, or to put it simply – we want to remove the labels and thinking associated with legacy ‘blue collar’ and ‘white collar’ roles.
This award recognises an emerging professional who has shown great potential and achievement in our industry. The judges are looking for the person that has best demonstrated a positive impact in the field of highways and/or transportation in the North West Region and who is making an exceptional contribution to their workplace. The aim of the Award is to celebrate individual excellence and potential in transportation planning and/or civil engineering within the highways or transportation sector. Applicants can nominate themselves or others for this award and all applicants must be members of the Institution.
All applicants must be in employment in the Highways and Transportation sector within the North West and have less than 10 years experience.
In evaluating submissions, the judges will consider: -
· Commitment: applicants need to demonstrate their commitment to personal development and progression within the industry; for example: a commitment to additional learning, continuing professional development or participation in industry activities outside of the normal working environment.
· Contribution: applicants need to show they have made an outstanding contribution to their workplace – in particular, areas or projects where they have exceeded expectations and made a positive impact on their business or a project; for example: sustainability, inclusivity, technical excellence or safety.
· Success: applicants need to demonstrate inspirational levels of achievement and attainment, and that they have made an impact on their organisation or their role in any project, referring to any attributes they display that point to future leadership and success.
This award recognises a regional transport project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative that aligns strongly with CIHT’s values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative and Progressive, and has enhanced and progressed the EDI agenda locally, regionally or nationally.
This award recognises employers or individuals that have implemented (or been involved in) an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiative of merit in the North West. The initiative can be as part of a wider project for the highways and transport sector, or it can be a workplace initiative implemented. Judges will consider how the initiative has been implemented, what steps have been taken in its creation and the measures used to monitor progress, including:
· Stakeholder engagement
· Clarity of aims & objectives
· The accessibility of initiative
· Lessons learnt during implementation
The initiative should have made a positive contribution to an organisation, the industry and the society of the North West. The judges will also be looking for how well the initiative(s) have been embedded in the organisation and for evidence of cultural change.
Entry Criteria
The award is free to enter.
Entries must demonstrate the delivery and outcomes of the project are aligned with CIHT’s Values – Professional, Inclusive, Collaborative, and Progressive.
Entries can be submitted by any party involved in the project, strategy, policy or behaviour change initiative, including the promoting body, advisors/consultants, contractors or direct stakeholders; and joint entries are accepted. We ask that where a project involved various stakeholders, e.g. designer, contractor, client, etc, all parties are aware of, and consent to, the entry. Please also seek explicit permission of the promoting body before entering.
Some examples/suggestions to reflect on when drafting your submission are laid out below:
· Professional: In what ways did the project demonstrate good value for money? Were sustainability principles integrated into the approach? How were health and safety risks identified and effectively managed? What lessons were learned that could enhance future project delivery?
· Inclusive: How did the project positively impact people's lives? What are the broader benefits to society? Did the project take into account the diverse needs of all groups in society?
· Collaborative: How did the project team work together to overcome challenges? What steps were taken to build and maintain trust with external stakeholders? In what ways did collaboration contribute to the project's success?
· Progressive: What aspects of the project are particularly innovative? How did the project stand out from others in its field? Does the project set a new benchmark or direction for future initiatives?
Evidence must be given for at least three of the above criteria in order to be considered.
Judging
Entries will be assessed by a panel of judges comprising representatives of the CIHT North West Committee.
Please note that the judges’ decision is final.
Entries failing to meet the specified criteria, or which are not submitted in the requested format set out below will not be considered.
Award Details
The winning project team will receive a trophy, certificate, and a full suite of press and promotion across CIHT North West channels, including on social media, CIHT website and post event material.
The winners will be announced at the CIHT North West Annual Dinner on Thursday 14th May 2026 at the Parrs Bank Hotel, Warrington where the winning team will be presented with their award.
Winners will also be invited to present their project to CIHT members via an event (e.g. webinar or face to face) at a later date.
You can book your seats online using a credit/debit card, please use the 'book a place' button on this page to secure your place. All bookings can be made via the CIHT Website by debit or credit card.
This event is kindly sponsored by A E Yates.
Further sponsorship opportunities are available for the Awards Dinner. More information will be available shortly or contact northwest@ciht.org.uk to discuss.
Emerging Professional Table sponsorship opportunity: £1,000 + VAT
Winner: A595 Moresby hall Improvements - A E Yates
Highly Commended: Warrington's Own Buses - Warrington Borough Counci
Winner: Blackburne Place - Huyton Asphalt/Huyton Asphalt Civils/Liverpool City Council
Highly Commended: King Charles III Footpath/Cheshire West and Cheshire Council/Colas
Commended: Liverpool Live Lab - Liverpool City Council
Commended: Talbot Road Active Travel Corridor - Amey/Trafford Council/One Trafford Partnership/George Cox Ltd
Winner: Sustainability in Surfacing - Multipave
Highly Commended: Driving a Greener Future - Warrington Borough Council
Commended: Withington Public Realm - Pell Frischmann
Commended: Catharine Street - Liverpool - Liverpool City Council
Commended: Chorlton Cycleway - Manchester City Council
Winner: A57 Link Roads Scheme - Balfour Beatty
Highly Commended: Harm Avoidance - Huyton Asphalt/Huyton Asphalt Civils
Winner: ASite - Bethell
Highly Commended: Knowsley Highways Term Service - AECOM
Commended: Kingsway, Public Real Improvements, Stretford - A E Yates
Winner: The Bethell People Strategy - Bethell
Commended: HA Means More - Huyton Asphalt/Huyton Asphalt Civils
Winner: Michael Loughrey - AECOM
Highly Commended: Cam Rabbett - Pell Frischmann
Commended: Gerard McCoy - Bethell, Joe Hinchliffe - Bethell, Jay Miller - AECOM and Lewis Bowles - Pell Frischmann
If you have a question please contact regions@ciht.org.uk