18 June 2025 | JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel
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For any enquiries please contact Elijah Blunt on +44 (0) 020 3953 2197 or email elijah.blunt@emap.com.
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The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on 18 June 2025.
GE Workforce Awards
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion
This award is to recognise industry-leading performance by a company, association or individual, between January 2024 and January 2025 in making specific efforts to champion and develop a diverse and inclusive culture within the geotechnical sector and/or their own organisation.
The entry should demonstrate how the organisation or individual is championing change and fostering a more diverse and inclusive industry and workforce. It should also describe how this is helping to attract and retain talent within the industry or company.
This can be illustrated at head office, project or initiative level, and can be focused on the role an individual is playing in driving change.
Rising Star Award
This award is for UK-based geotechnical, geo-environmental , tunnel and mining engineers , engineering geologists, geotechnicians, laboratory and instrumentation technicians, and drilling, piling and other ground-related site operatives with up to five years of industry experience – or up to three years, if the entrant has completed a PhD degree. Individuals who have completed or are still completing their level 6 or 7 degree apprenticeships are also encouraged to enter.
The entrants are expected to have shown innovative thinking, astute business acumen, made a significant contribution to a project, or demonstrated technical ability through research. Entrants must be able to clearly define their critical input to work in one or more of these areas.
They will be judged on all-round ability - not only academic and work-related achievements - but also their enthusiasm for ground engineering.
Entries should be written and submitted by the Rising Star candidate themselves. It should include a commendation from either a company training officer or a relevant senior manager, as well as an up-to-date CV. Please also include information of any career breaks, as these can be excluded from the 3-5 years of industry experience. There is no age limit for entry, and we encourage entries from under-represented groups within engineering.
Excellence in Learning and Development
This category is open to all types of companies working in the geotechnical industry that can demonstrate excellence in learning and development opportunities between January 2024 and January 2025.
This category aims to recognise in-house learning and development teams (not training agencies) that deliver excellent opportunities for staff development and can demonstrate how this has supported the wider business.
Excellence in Outreach
This category looks to recognise organisations, teams or individuals that have gone the extra mile to inspire people to consider a career in geotechnical contracting or consultancy. Whether it is promoting science, technology, engineering and maths in schools and colleges; mentoring interns, apprentices and new joiners; or working with youth organisations, this organisation/team/individual deserves recognition for encouraging younger people to take part in the ground engineering and construction sector.
Graduate Programme of the Year
This category is open to all types of companies working in the geotechnical industry that can demonstrate success in a graduate recruitment programme between January 2024 and January 2025.
Entrants should highlight why graduate recruitment has been successful in their firm and evidence initiatives that have improved the graduate experience with demonstrable success.
Apprentice Programme of the Year
This category is open to all types of companies working in the ground engineering industry that can demonstrate success in an apprentice recruitment programme between January 2024 and January 2025.
Entrants should highlight why apprentice recruitment has been successful in their firm and evidence initiatives that have improved the apprentice experience with demonstrable success.
GE Awards
Award for Digital Innovation
This category is open to any geotechnical company that can show excellence in the way it has used digital technology to improve systems, performance, processes or project delivery within its own business between January 2024 and January 2025. Entries in this category should focus on business-wide innovations and, where applicable, be used on multiple projects. Project-specific innovations should be entered in the Technical Excellence category.
Entries could focus on a particular digital innovation - such as an initiative to improve safety, employment practices, collaboration or delivery - or present how digital innovation is fostered and encouraged across the business and the benefits this is driving.
The innovation could be site or office based, and entrants should present clear evidence of how the innovation has delivered performance, cost, health and safety or reliability improvements for the business and how this benefits both clients and society.
Award for Equipment Innovation
This category is open to any company that can show excellence through new product or technology development for the ground engineering industry between January 2024 and January 2025.
Entrants must demonstrate how the innovative new product or technology has delivered benefits in health and safety, in-use performance, sustainability or cost during on site delivery of a geotechnical project. Evidence to show how the product or technology can improve the performance or quality of service that the purchasing company offers to its clients is essential.
Award for Technical Excellence
This award recognises a hi-tech advancement or concept that has helped a company improve its performance or delivery of a specific challenging element of a project, between January 2024 and January 2025. This category is not aimed at projects that have achieved overall excellence – such projects should be entered into one of the project categories.
The entrant may have achieved technical excellence through producing a new approach to analysis or design, advanced techniques or procedures during design or delivery and/or working with its customers to improve delivery of a specific part of a project through technical refinement.
An entry should be for a single technical advance or development applied to a specific part of a project. Developments applied to a number of projects may be better placed in the Digital Innovation or Equipment Innovation categories.
The geotechnical work on the project presented must be completed at the time of the submission.
Consulting Firm of the Year
This category will recognise the specialist geotechnical consultancy, or geotechnical division within a major consultant, that can demonstrate achievement of clear business milestones between January 2024 and January 2025.
The award will celebrate firms that have continually delivered innovation, quality and value during this period, while improving the business and making it more profitable.
Entrants should demonstrate how they have improved the wellbeing of their staff. Companies must also use evidence from projects to show how the business’s technical abilities have gone beyond the expected level of service for clients and the supply chain.
Contractor of the Year
This category celebrates the achievements of geotechnical contractors or specialist geotechnical divisions within general contracting firms that can demonstrate achievement of clear business milestones over the last year. The award will celebrate firms that have continually delivered innovation, quality and value between January 2024 and January 2025, while improving the business and making it more profitable.
Entrants must be able to use projects undertaken to show their technical capabilities in delivering projects beyond the expectations of their clients, within budget and on time.
Judges will also consider the contractor's approach to coping with challenges on site, interacting with the supply chain and improving the wellbeing of its staff.
Ground Investigation Project of the Year
This category is for a ground investigation project that stands out in terms of its credentials in innovation, quality, sustainability, health and safety and value engineering between January 2024 and January 2025. Projects entered into this category should have elements within the design and delivery that were focused on minimising risk from unexpected ground conditions during the construction phase and should be able to demonstrate the steps taken to achieve this.
The entrant must explain and provide evidence to demonstrate what exceptional measures were taken or innovative techniques used to result in the project being delivered above the expected standard.
The ground investigation must be completed at the time of entry submission, but it is not essential for the project for which the ground investigation was undertaken to have started or have been completed.
Ground Investigation Specialist of the Year
Ground investigation contractors that can demonstrate achievement of clear business milestones will be rewarded in this category. Firms must be able to provide evidence of continued dedication to delivering innovation, quality and value between January 2024 and January 2025.
Entrants must be able to use ground investigation projects undertaken to show their technical capabilities in delivering projects beyond the expectations of their clients, within budget and on time.
Judges will also consider the ground investigation contractor's approach to coping with challenges on site and interacting with the supply chain and look for evidence of commercial as well as technical success across the time period.
Health and Safety Award
Candidates for this award must demonstrate an initiative, operations process, innovation or piece of equipment that has clearly contributed to improving health and safety, between January 2024 and January 2025. The award can be for a company-wide policy that benefits geotechnical operations, or an initiative or technique applied to a specific ground engineering project. Entries must demonstrate how safety risks associated with the geotechnical element of the work or for the geotechnical workforce were reduced.
International Project of the Year
This award recognises projects that have delivered geotechnical excellence and stand out on the international stage between January 2024 and January 2025.
Entrants must demonstrate their projects’ credentials in sustainability, health and safety and value engineering. In reaching their decisions the judges will take particular note of client satisfaction, geotechnical innovation, value for money, performance against prediction, the quality of design and construction, safety and application of innovation.
The geotechnical element of the work must be completed at the time of entry submission.
Specialist Geotechnical Supplier of the Year
This category is open to businesses that provide services or supply materials to geotechnical contractors or consultants that can demonstrate achievement of clear business milestones between January 2024 and January 2025. The award will celebrate specialist geotechnical suppliers that have continually delivered innovation, quality and value within this period, while improving the business and making it more profitable.
Entrants must demonstrate how they have improved their services and use evidence from projects to show how the business’s technical abilities have gone beyond the expected level of service for clients and also benefitted the supply chain.
Sustainability Award
Entrants for this category must be able to demonstrate an innovative, unusual or cutting edge approach to environmental, economic or social sustainability on a geotechnical project, between January 2024 and January 2025.
This could be in the form of reuse of materials or existing structures/foundations, innovation in redeveloping brownfield sites, use of technology/design to reduce carbon emissions, lasting benefits created in the local community or by the legacy of the project, or any other initiative that drives sustainability across the wider project.
UK Geotechnical Team of the Year
This award is open to any multi-company collaborative project team involved in the UK geotechnical industry either on a specific project or as part of a framework on multiple projects.
The success of the project team should be demonstrated in terms of how the team culture led to improved project delivery, how the entire project team was focused on mutual goals and joint activities that highlight outstanding performance.
Entries should demonstrate how the project team stands out against its competitors and how its performance or initiatives between January 2024 and January 2025 have either boosted its rate of delivery or produced outstanding results.
The entry can come from a client, contractor or lead designer, but must be supported by the client and other parties involved in the team.
UK Project with a Geotechnical Value of up to £500K
This is for a ground engineering scheme (as a standalone project or part of a larger development) with a contract value of less than £500K that stands out in terms of its credentials in innovation, quality, sustainability, health and safety and value engineering.
The entrant must explain and provide evidence to demonstrate what exceptional measures were taken or innovative techniques used to result in the project being delivered above the expected standard. A key element in deciding the winner will be the contribution of the entrant to the overall delivery of a project.
The geotechnical element of the work must be completed at the time of entry submission and is for work completed between January 2024 and January 2025.
UK Project with a Geotechnical Value of between £500K and £1M
This is for a ground engineering scheme (as a standalone project or part of a larger development) with a contract value of between £500K and £1M that stands out in terms of its credentials in innovation, sustainability, health and safety and value engineering.
The entrant must explain and provide evidence to demonstrate what exceptional measures were taken or innovative techniques used to result in the project being delivered above the expected standard. A key element in deciding the winner will be the contribution of the entrant to the overall delivery of a project.
The geotechnical element of the work must be completed at the time of entry submission and is for work completed between January 2024 and January 2025.
UK Project with a Geotechnical Value of between £1M and £3M
This is for a ground engineering scheme (as a standalone project or part of a larger development) with a contract value of between £1M and £3M that stands out in terms of its credentials in innovation, sustainability, health and safety and value engineering.
The entrant must explain and provide evidence to demonstrate what exceptional measures were taken or innovative techniques used to result in the project being delivered above the expected standard. A key element in deciding the winner will be the contribution of the entrant to the overall delivery of a project.
The geotechnical element of the work must be completed at the time of entry submission and is for work completed between January 2024 and January 2025.
UK Project with a Geotechnical Value over £3M
This is for a ground engineering scheme (as a standalone project or part of a larger development) with a contract value of over £3M that stands out in terms of its credentials in innovation, sustainability, health and safety and value engineering.
The entrant must explain and provide evidence to demonstrate what exceptional measures were taken or innovative techniques used to result in the project being delivered above the expected standard. A key element in deciding the winner will be the contribution of the entrant to the overall delivery of a project.
The geotechnical element of the work must be completed at the time of entry submission and is for work completed between January 2024 and January 2025.
Lifetime Achievement Award
This award aims to recognise an inspirational leader and influential geotechnical/geo-environmental engineer, engineering geologist or geotechnician who has made a significant strategic contribution to the field of geotechnics and has left an impact on the profession over a distinguished career.
We welcome entries from candidates themselves or nominations from those who wish to highlight an individual who they believe merits this level of recognition. We encourage entries from under-represented groups within engineering.
This distinguished award will be judged by the GE editorial team, with assistance from key industry figures.
Please note that a shortlist will not be published for this award. The winner will be informed in advance of the award ceremony and will be invited to give a short acceptance speech at the event.