Shropshire Council officer named West Midlands Superstar in national Building Control awards
A Shropshire Council building control officer has been named the West Midlands winner in national awards for local authority building control teams. Melanie Davies is one of thirteen members of staff of council building control teams in England and Wales to have won the LABC Superstar Awards. Each was nominated by their own work colleagues because “they always go the extra mile to support their customers, protect the public or improve their department’s performance”.
Speaking at the awards ceremony at the Leicester Marriott Hotel, LABC Managing Director Phil Hammond said:
“We have some fantastic people in the LABC network who frequently do far more than their job description demands. We’re in the frontline during floods and emergencies and we really care about public service and public protection. We also have our everyday work of helping the construction industry, builders, architects, agents and developers to create high quality buildings. This work is largely invisible and councils don’t have many ways to recognise their own Superstars. So we thought we’d say ‘thank you’ and recognise the best.”
Melanie Davies said:
“I’m delighted to have won this award. The fact that I was nominated by my colleagues makes it even more special.”
Mal Price, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for planning, housing, regulatory services, and environment, said:
“Congratulations to Melanie on this fantastic achievement. Our building control team provide a really important and valuable service and do a great job, so it’s brilliant for the team and for the council for one of our officers to be recognised in this way.”
Melanie’s award was collected on her behalf by Andrew Dunning of Shropshire Council, who received it from LABC President Jayne Hall.
A winner was chosen for each of LABC’s regions and Wales by a judging panel including external building industry experts. Chair of the judging panel Marcus Jefford, Operations & Marketing Director at Saint-Gobain’s Greenworks, said:
“I really appreciate the efforts of building control people to deliver a good service. I see similarities in my own business world working in one of the UK’s largest builders merchants operations, where we have thousands of people delivering excellent service to customers, either face-to-face or supporting the many added value services we provide to builders. I was amazed by the scope and depth of work carried out by building control and we saw many examples of great work by individuals covering, training, emergencies and danger to the public, consumer protection and everyday support for good builders, architects, developers and property owners. It certainly helped me to see local authority building control in a new light.”
