News

CMYA 2021 – Rising Star

Winner: Lydia McGuinness – Henry Boot Construction (now with Wates)

Lydia McGuinness has packed an awful lot into her six years in the construction industry. As well as proving herself to be a competent professional and a diligent student, she is a fierce ambassador for the industry.

Other finalists

King Wai Jason Cheung  Hip Hing Construction Company, HKSAR
Ryan Greenidge  London Borough of Lambeth
Magda Miazga  ISG
George Parsons  Gleeds
Alexandra Roche  Halesowen College
David Smith  Turner & Townsend, United Arab Emirates
Jack Turner  BAM Construction
Matt Williams  Faithful+Gould

Lydia started working for Henry Boot at the age of 18, studying as she worked to gain an HNC in the Built Environment, distinction, followed by a first-class BSc Honours in Construction Project Management.

She has worked on multiple projects and, during the Covid-19 pandemic, ran a section of The Glass Works project in Barnsley for eight weeks while other colleagues were furloughed. Despite also finishing the dissertation for her degree during this period, and losing her grandfather to Covid, she pushed the project ahead of programme.

Beyond her project responsibilities, Lydia works hard for the industry and for local communities. She has been the chair of Generation for Change (G4C) for three years, organising awards, seminars, CPDs, talks and, more recently, webinars and podcasts.

She is a STEM and CIOB ambassador and was on Henry Boot’s charity committee for three years, organising and taking part in many events and programmes over that time. Truly a bright, shining star.


Highly Commended: Megan Haslam – Sir Robert McAlpine

Coming to the construction industry in 2016 as a trainee engineer with a Geography degree, Megan Haslam has gained technical and management expertise while showing leadership on sustainability.

While working full time for Sir Robert McAlpine, she studied for an MSc in Construction Management at Salford University, graduating with a distinction. In 2020 she became a chartered construction manager.

As well as demonstrating prowess as a package manager, Megan has worked as a sustainability manager, researching plastic waste in construction for her degree dissertation. In January this year she began a Sustainability Scholarship with the Worshipful Company of Constructors.

Category sponsored by

Story for CM? Get in touch via email: [email protected]

Latest articles in News