Pictured above: Ian Grewcock, Business Support Director at Business Link and Nicholas Gibb, Preconstruction Director at Willmott Dixon Construction

Willmott Dixon Construction has been named the Midlands most sustainable constructor at the West Midlands Constructing Excellence Awards.

The 'Sustainability Award 2010' rewards a company that has shown the greatest commitment to policies and practices that measure and deliver environmental and social benefits in response to the expectation of stakeholders and society.

The judges were most impressed by Willmott Dixon's full range of bespoke monitoring tools which highlighted both their understanding and commitment from top to bottom of the organisation and throughout the supply chain.  The judges also commented that it was clear that there was a positive local and regional impact across the West Midlands.

Over the last three years, Willmott Dixon Group has made an investment of £5 million in developing some of the industry's most stringent and far reaching sustainable, low carbon practices and targets. Ensuring that their economic goals are achieved whilst being socially aware and environmentally responsible, Willmott Dixon Group successfully recycled 85% of construction waste in 2009 and aims to achieve zero carbon and send zero waste to landfill by 2012.

The company's Midlands's construction office, headed by Managing Director Peter Owen, remains a key driver for growth in the region and also as a contributor to last year's Group turnover which exceeded £900m. 

Commenting on the award, Peter Owen said: "It is not just about achieving targets. It is also about ensuring that everybody plays a part so that what we build is not only more energy-efficient and uses fewer non-renewable resources but also provides better long term outcomes for all stakeholders - funders, developers, designers, the supply chain, operators and end users."

The West Midlands Constructing Excellence Awards were open to both public and private sector organisations based in the West Midlands. As a regional winner, Willmott Dixon will now go forward to face its regional counterparts in the final of the National Constructing Excellence Awards which will be held later this year.

The award marks further success for Willmott Dixon's approach to sustainability after the company was recently named Building magazine's sustainable company of the year. The company's commitment to sustainability was also recognised in 2009 when it came 3rd in the Sunday Times Best Green Companies list, the highest ranked company in the construction industry.