The award aims to provide essential support and encouragement to assist further career progression for a new generation of repair and refurbishment specialists.

Offering a cash prize of £2,000 to the winner, the award seeks to reward individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to a business or project in the sphere of concrete repair and refurbishment. Its goal is to encourage continued personal development, while bringing new talent into the Association and promoting greater participation in its activities.

All nominees will be assessed on their achievements and ability to collaborate when working within a business or project team. Each nominee’s contribution to improving innovation, sustainability and health and safety or wellbeing within the business or project will also be considered.

The award is open any employee of a CRA member company who entered the industry within the last five years, including apprentices, students and graduates. Nominations must be made by a peer of the individual and signed off by the nominee’s senior manager or equivalent. CRA member companies wishing to make a nomination must return a completed Nomination Form by 30 August 2019.

The award presentation will take place on November 1 at the CRA’s Annual Dinner which follows its Annual General Meeting. All shortlisted nominees will be invited to attend the event as expenses-paid guests of the Association.

In addition to the cash prize, the winner will receive a Winner’s Shield engraved with their name. Furthermore, the member company that nominates the winning individual will receive a 50% discount on their 2020 CRA membership subscription. 

CRA chairman Steve Richards said: “Advancing education and technical training in this specialist sector is a core goal of the Concrete Repair Association. I am pleased to announce this new award which we hope will encourage those new to our industry to further enhance their skills, enabling them to contribute to the continued development of innovative concrete repair and protection techniques thus ensuring the long term future of our concrete structures.”

CRA is one of the organisations which makes up the Structural Concrete Alliance, an umbrella organisation which also includes the Corrosion Prevention Association (CPA) and Sprayed Concrete Association (SCA) to provide a single co-ordinated voice for the structural concrete refurbishment and repair industry.