Topic Awards, People, Environment, Infrastructure
Date 18 Sep 2026
Galliford Try was celebrated for excellence in Senior Leadership at this year’s Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering Awards, in partnership with Construction News, Ground Engineering and New Civil Engineer.
A major success for Galliford Try came as the Environment business's Engineering Senior Leadership Team, including Phil Venn, Ben Smith and Stewart Evans, received the Excellence in Senior Leadership Award. Nominated by Kay Denham, Engineering Director, the team was recognised for its commitment to championing inclusion, supporting career development and fostering a high-performing culture across the business.
The judges praised the leadership team’s work, commenting: "A clear strategy delivering tangible results, with measurable improvements in female promotions and retention. An exemplary example of male allyship creating genuine psychological safety, with a refreshing recognition that the journey continues and firm plans to keep improving."
Kay added: “This recognition is particularly meaningful in this arena as my all-male immediate team won the award in a ceremony dedicated to championing women and for me this is exactly what inclusive, collaborative leadership should look like, teams truly creating opportunities and recognising talent regardless of gender.”
From the Galliford Try Infrastructure team, Sam Pickering (Rising Star, Contribution to a Project) was highly commended, while Alix Reynolds (Rising Star, Technical Excellence) and Aimee Blay (Rising Star, Technical Excellence) were finalists, alongside Ally Hall from the Technical Services team, who was nominated in the Technical Excellence category.
Commenting on the awards, David Lowery, Divisional Managing Director for Infrastructure, said: "Congratulations to everyone recognised for their achievements and the positive contribution they continue to make across our industry. These awards showcase the exceptional breadth of talent within Galliford Try and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to nurturing diverse teams, encouraging innovation and creating opportunities for our people to succeed and grow throughout their careers.”
The awards recognise outstanding achievements across the industry and celebrate emerging talent, technical excellence and leadership within the construction and engineering sector.