CIHT West Midlands was delighted to host the 61st AGM, annual dinner and awards ceremony in three years at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham city centre on the evening of 8th May 2025.

The day began with CIHT Chief Executive Officer Sue Percy, the CIHT West Midlands Chair Matthew Moss, CIHT West Midlands Vice-Chair Farheen Ahmed and Transport for West Midlands Programme Sponsor Marilyn Grazette being taken on a walking tour showcasing all the brilliant regeneration works going in Birmingham City Centre. Marilyn provided insights on what is currently ongoing, the future plans, the constraints and challenges in delivering regeneration projects in busy areas of the highway network.

The annual dinner and awards ceremony was the most successful for the region yet with 240 attendees, celebrating the remarkable projects and individuals in the region.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital was the chosen charity for 2025 and during the dinner, Kian Saville gave an awe-inspiring speech of his experience of how the Children’s Hospital saved his life and enabled him to grow and achieve. An amazing £2,400 was raised on the night for the Children's Hospital through raffle sales and donations – thank you to all who so generously donated and to William Smith, Thomas Owen and Connor Murphy for selling so many tickets in a very short time.

The awards ceremony was brilliantly executed by Paul Unwin with support from Sue Percy, Matthew Moss and representatives of Waterman Aspen and Arcadis as award sponsors. Award entries were all very high quality and showcased the brilliant talent across the region. Congratulations to the winners and highly commended / commended which are listed below:

Emerging Professional / Apprentice Award 2025

• Winner - Chloe Copeland (AtkinsRealis)
• Highly Commended – Matthew Langdon (AtkinsRealis)

Emerging Student Award 2025

• Winner - Zulaykha Jussab (AECOM Industrial Placement, Loughborough University)

Innovation & Research Award 2025

• Winner - Mapping Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Transport Networks in the West Midlands (University of Birmingham, West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for West Midlands, Birmingham City Council, Will Baxter Graphic Design)
• Highly Commended - An Innovative Approach to Road Safety on the Fosse Way (Arcadis, Michelin, Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership)

Collaboration Award 2025

• Winner - Mapping Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Transport Networks in the West Midlands (University of Birmingham, West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for West Midlands, Birmingham City Council, Will Baxter Graphic Design)
• Highly Commended – City Centre Public Realm (Birmingham City Council, Jacobs & CPC Civils)

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award 2025

• Winner - Javaid Amin (Arcadis)

Environment and Sustainability Award 2025

• Winner - Cressbrook Mill Footbridge Sustainability and People Power (R&C Williams Ltd)
• Highly Commended - Mapping Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Transport Networks in the West Midlands (University of Birmingham, West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for West Midlands, Birmingham City Council, Will Baxter Graphic Design)

Best Small Project Award 2025

• Winner - Cressbrook Mill Footbridge Sustainability and People Power (R&C Williams Ltd)
• Highly Commended - Mapping Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Transport Networks in the West Midlands (University of Birmingham, West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for West Midlands, Birmingham City Council, Will Baxter Graphic Design)

Best Large Project Award 2025

• Winner - National Emergency Area Retrofit Programme (National Highways / SMP Alliance, Fluor, WSP, Jacobs, Balfour Beatty, Costain, BMJV)
• Highly Commended - A45 Eastern Green Access Junction, Coventry (Breheny Civil Engineering)
• Highly Commended - Passenger Incentive Programme (Transport for West Midlands)

Celebrating Women’s Achievement Award 2025

•    Winner - Beckie Faulkner (WSP)
•    Highly Commended - Diana Sanchez (AtkinsRealis)

Celebrating Allies Award 2025

• Winner - Javaid Amin (Arcadis)
• Highly Commended - John Turpin (AtkinsRealis)

To conclude, the whole event was a great success with very positive feedback received. There were of course some minor niggles, but the committee will look at these in lessons learned sessions so that they can be ironed out to ensure the next year’s awards dinner is an even bigger success!

Please find all the photos of the event here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EXmUXmsWJjJFLuLX7

To find out more, or get in touch with the CIHT West Midlands committee, please email westmidlands@ciht.org.uk.