The West Midlands committee once again celebrated another outstanding year of achievement across the region at the Awards Dinner 2026,  held at the Burlington MacDonald Hotel in Birmingham on 7th May. 

Thank you to our Gold Sponsor Arcadis for supporting the event and our award sponsors Waterman Aspen and Travis Baker. 

The awards continue to showcase the breadth of talent, innovation and collaboration within the highways and transportation sector, recognising individuals, teams and projects that are making a meaningful difference to communities across the local area.  

The day began with CIHT Vice-President Kate Carpenter, incoming CIHT West Midlands Chair Farheen Ahmed, incoming CIHT West Midlands Vice-Chair Zoe Smith and Transport for West Midlands Operations Manager Michael Sandland taking a tour of the Regional Transport Coordination Centre. It was inspiring to see how intelligence led systems support real‑time decision‑making, resilience and public safety, particularly given the scope and growing demands of the transport network across the West Midlands. 

The tour was followed by meeting four outstanding Transport Safety Officers (true silent heroes), who shared how they protect our places every day. Seeing the progress at West Bromwich Bus Station, a key interchange, alongside a small community hub run by volunteers to support vulnerable people, was a stark reminder of the social value embedded in transport infrastructure. 

Birmingham Children’s Hospital was the chosen charity for 2026. During the dinner, George Gibson gave a speech retelling his daughter Harper’s experience and journey with the Children’s Hospital. Thank you to all who so generously donated and a special thank you to Thomas Owen for selling so many tickets in a very short time. 

The awards ceremony was brilliantly executed by Paul Unwin and Jimoh Ibrahim with support from Sue Percy and Farheen Ahmed. All award entries were of a fantastic standard and showcased the brilliant talent active across the region. 

For his continued efforts to CIHT and the sector more broadly, Paul Unwin received a richly deserved Certificate of Merit, for services to CIHT.

In keeping with celebrations, a huge congratulations to the winners and highly commended/commended, which are listed below:    

Emerging Student Award 2026 

• Winner - Brendah Atieno Juma (Assistant Engineer at Amey UK - Coventry University MSc Civil Engineering Project Management) 

Emerging Professional / Apprentice Award 2026 

• Winner - Lucy Frearson (Principal Transport Planner - Pell Frischmann) 
• Highly Commended – Antony Clewes (Senior Civil Engineer – ARUP) 

Celebrating Women’s Achievement Award 2026 

•    Winner - Anna Watt (Transport Research Lead - West Midlands Combined Authority) 
•    Highly Commended - Holly Clapp (Junior Consultant, Transport Planning – ARCADIS) 

•    Highly Commended - Zahraa Kadri (Principal Consultant – ARCADIS) 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award 2026 

• Winner - White Ribbon Accreditation - Transport Safety Officers (Transport for West Midlands, MAN Commercial Protection Ltd) 

Environment and Sustainability Award 2026 

• Winner - West Midlands First Air Quality Warning System (West Midlands Combined Authority, Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC), NHS) 

Collaboration Award 2026 

• Winner - Digbeth High Street Regeneration (Pell Frischmann, Midland Metro Alliance, West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council) 
• Highly Commended – A38(M) Tame Valley Viaduct Strengthening Scheme (Arcadis, Atkins Realis, Volker Fitzpatrick and Birmingham City Council) 

Innovation & Research Award 2026 

• Winner - Use of vortex drop shaft and trenchless techniques (EKFB and Arcadis) 
• Highly Commended - Birmingham Mobility Hubs and Car Club Strategy and Pilot (Pell Frischmann supported by Birmingham City Council, Transport for West Midlands and Collaborative Mobility UK (CoMoUK)