Utility Week

28 | 20TH - 26TH JULY 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Event H ave you had an exceptional year? Set a benchmark for others to aspire to? Nurtured extraordinary teamwork or community benefits that make the industry proud? The search has begun for the lead- ing companies and teams across the utilities sector with the launch of the Utility Week Awards 2018 – the gold standard of industry performance. The 14 award categories provide compa- nies with a great opportunity to highlight their successes, celebrate the achievements of staff and recognise those who really are going that extra mile, be it in customer ser- vice, health and safety or all-round excel- lence in performance. With an annual black-tie dinner at London's Grosvenor House Hotel in December, the awards have become an institution in their own right – and the industry's annual Christmas party. This year we are recognising an even wider breadth of achievement with the introduction of new categories reflecting the exciting strides the sector is making in areas such as diversity and innovation – all judged by experts in the field. Our four new award categories are: • Customer Engagement; • Diversity; • Innovation; • Utility Partner of The Year. The Utility Week Awards are open to util- ity companies producing, distributing and retailing energy or water. Other companies are welcome to enter jointly with utility part- ners. The initiative, project or campaign in most cases should be completed during the financial year 2017/18. Every shortlisted entrant receives a bespoke benchmarking report, providing feedback on what the judges liked about the entry, and what you could have done better. And throughout the year we will publish detailed case studies looking at how the win- ners achieved their awards success. You'll find lots of advice in our guide on how to enter the awards and bring out the best in your achievements at: www.utilityweekawards.co.uk. What are you waiting for? Capital Project Management Award Does your company deliver capital projects on time, within budget and with outstanding health and safety? This award aims to iden- tify best practice through the effective man- agement of a utility capital project that was completed during 2017/18. The judges will be looking for success of delivery, how was it delivered, whether it was on time and budget and how that was achieved. Were any lessons learned that you can take forward to other projects? Community Initiative of the Year Many UK utility businesses make significant contributions to local and national com- munities. This award aims to recognise the significant effort and care that goes into this oen unpublicised work, which benefits the recipients far more than the image of the company. Judges will be looking for evidence of who benefitted from the initiative and how it impacted the community. Have you got the winning formula? The Utility Week Awards have been launched with four new categories for 2018. So if you have a project, initiative, team or technology that is breaking new ground and exceeds customer expectations − shout about it!

• Cover