JN Bentley has been awarded Van Excellence Operator status following a recent audit from Logistics UK. With a fleet of over 350 vehicles, comprising of Ford Courier, Transit and 4x4 Rangers this award recognises excellence and helps continually improve our operational standards. At the heart of this scheme are the Van Excellence standards which outline ‘what good looks like’ in terms of van operations with safety and efficiency being at its core. Van Excellence is an award-winning industry-led initiative, developed by Logistics UK alongside some of the UK’s best van operators. The scheme aims to raise standards within the industry, improve the perception of vans and light commercial vehicles and enhance the reputation of organisations operating van fleets. To receive the Van Excellence accreditation, participating organisations’ van operations are subject to an assessment by Logistics UK’s auditors which examine their procedures against The Van Excellence Code. The Code represents the minimum standards required to ensure the safe operation of van fleets. It covers everything from driver licencing, competence and behaviour to vehicles standards, equipment and maintenance. Nicola Wilson, Procurement Manager said: “The scheme has been beneficial for keeping the team focused in terms of managing and maintaining the fleet but it’s also key to our drivers, reinforcing the importance of operating a safe and efficient fleet.” By joining the scheme, JN Bentley is demonstrating its commitment to safer, more efficient and sustainable van operators. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitterto stay up to date with the latest news from around the business.

Congratulations to Adam Slowinski, Apprentice Quantity Surveyor at JN Bentley, who has won Leeds College of Building’s Level 4 Apprentice of the Year award. Adam received the award on September 28th, at the Centenary Pavilion at Elland Road. This is as a result of his exemplary work ethic and his proactiveness when creating his work portfolio, leading him to complete a ‘first class’ portfolio. The Building Industry Greats (BIG) Awards celebrates the work and achievements of students throughout Leeds College of Building during the previous academic year, and is a monumental opportunity to showcase the industry’s rising stars. Adam’s tutor at Leeds College of Building commented, “Adam started his work based portfolio early and was proactive in his approach to collecting evidence. This placed him in good stead, as he completed well ahead of schedule. Adam listened to any advice given to him and in some cases went away and came up with better and stronger evidence. Adam behaved in a professional manner throughout his KSB sessions. As a result, Adam has completed a first class portfolio with an excellent range of evidence. Congratulations!” Helen Bradford, Lead Learning and Development Advisor at JN Bentley, added, “This is a great achievement by Adam and testament to his hard work, determination and engagement in his apprenticeship. Well done.” Adam is pictured above with Anthony Nutty (Director), Arthur Devine (Commercial Manager) and Helen Bradford (L&D Advisor) (left to right). Our apprenticeships Apprenticeships have long been a part of JN Bentley‘s history and our culture of promoting from within. Our apprenticeships provide a gateway into the construction and civil engineering industry. Hands-on from day one, earn while you learn, with dedicated mentors to support your development throughout the course, you'll have the opportunity to gain valuable experience and insight into the real world of work that will help you to build a successful career in the industry. We offer apprenticeships in civil, mechanical, electrical and process (MEP) engineering, quantity surveying and a range of business support roles including Finance, IT and construction health and safety. Find out more here. Don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up to date with news from across the business.

JN Bentley has been appointed to two new frameworks with Associated British Ports (ABP). ABP’s five-year industrial building framework could be worth up to a total of £415m and covers design and building work at their 21 ports across the country. 11 partners have been appointed to five regional lots, with JN Bentley the only partner to be appointed to each. JN Bentley has also secured a place on ABP’s minor civils framework to deliver projects at their four ports on the Humber at Hull, Grimsby, Immingham, and Goole. One of the UK’s leading port operators, ABP’s network of ports around Britain offers marine, road and rail access to domestic and international markets. They handle around one-quarter of the nation's seaborne trade and contribute £7.5 billion to the economy every year. Securing the frameworks represents a move into a new sector for JN Bentley, to which it can bring fifty years of engineering and construction experience in a variety of fields including industrial building, water and highways. Ian Bester, JN Bentley director, said, “We are delighted to secure places on these two important frameworks with ABP. The frameworks give us opportunity to demonstrate the value we add as an experienced contractor with skills and knowledge directly transferable from other sectors such as water. “We look forward to supporting the significant contribution that ABP make to the UK and playing our part in helping Keep Britain Trading. We are excited to get going and look forward to forging a long-term successful relationship together.” Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up-to-date with the latest news from JN Bentley.

Following a recent audit, JN Bentley – including Mott MacDonald Bentley – has received ISO 27001 accreditation for information security management. ISO 27001 is an internationally recognised standard that provides a framework for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) to provide continued confidentiality, integrity and availability of information as well as legal compliance. Achieving ISO 27001 builds on our existing suite of accreditations and will help us to improve the security of our information and systems, ensuring we maintain continuity of work and our reputation with clients. Neil Coupe, Head of IT at JN Bentley said: “Receiving this accreditation recognises our continued commitment to managing information safely and securely for our clients, partners, employees and the business. Ahead of the audit we ran several company-wide campaigns, aimed at raising awareness of information security and providing colleagues with the knowledge and tools to help keep our data secure. “We shared various resources with colleagues, including posters, information flyers and stickers on machines and screens to act as visible reminders of information security risks and best practice. “As part of our company incident reporting procedures, employees can now report information security related events in the same way as health, safety and environmental events, which will encourage safe behaviours and working practices. “Our Information Security journey will be continual, as we endeavour to equip our colleagues with the knowledge and skills to help being secure. Our continued campaigns will help to remind and further embed best practice, as well as help to drive continual improvement and re-certification." Find and follow us on socials – LinkedIn, Twitter – to keep up with the latest news from across the business too.

JBA Bentley has been named runner-up in the Contractor of the Year category at the prestigious NEC Martin Barnes Awards 2022. The awards, concluding the annual NEC conference in London, celebrate great work carried out by individuals, teams and projects from right across the globe. The award recognises JBA Bentley’s delivery of the Great Yarmouth Flood Defence ‘Epoch 2’ scheme – one of the largest the company has ever delivered with the Environment Agency. The project has seen major work undertaken on the quayside in Great Yarmouth to renovate and replace flood defences that provide flood protection to 4,500 homes and businesses. A 70% reduction in carbon has been achieved on the scheme, through careful planning, innovative design, material reuse and a local supply chain. JBA Bentley director, Ian Bester, commented, “This is a fantastic achievement for a great project, made all the more pleasing in that the award entry was first initiated by our client’s PM. “The Great Yarmouth scheme is great showcase for the NEC - administered in the spirit of mutual trust and cooperation, no contractual escalations with both parties happy with the project outcome. “Well done to everyone involved.” NEC judge, Shy Jackson, said, “All the entries were of a very high standard and there was a wide range of project types from all over the world, including some where the parties used NEC for the first time…Well done to everyone who has taken part and has provided good examples of NEC in practice.” Congratulations to all the winners on the evening. Pictured: JBA Bentley contracts manager Glenn Harvey (right) with John Welch, NEC Users' Group Chair and Deputy Director Construction at CCS. The award is the latest in a growing list for JBA Bentley and Great Yarmouth – including Environment and Sustainability Initiative of the Year at last year’s British Construction Industry Awards. Read more about JBA Bentley and its focus on low carbon solutions on the JBA Bentley website.

Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) were presented with four awards – three wins and a highly commended – at the annual ICE West Midlands gala; an event that celebrates all aspects of civil engineering, projects, people and ground-breaking research across the Midlands region. Cinderford Wetlands – Winner – Team Achievement award MMB have delivered a biodiversity improvement scheme for Severn Trent Water in Cinderford, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Significant project risks were managed through collaboration with stakeholders at the Environment Agency, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Forestry England. These risks included a coal mining legacy, anecdotal evidence of contamination, high groundwater, difficult access and great crested newts. A key success from Cinderford was the identification of skill sets and areas of expertise that were needed early on, resulting in the appropriate people joining the multi-disciplinary project team. Frances Stephens (MMB Civil Engineer) – Winner – STEM Ambassador award Frances impressed the judges with her consistent support of STEM activities throughout this year, running a range of activities on behalf of the ICE and Mott MacDonald Bentley. This has included mentoring Year 9 students for the Industrial Cadets Bronze Award. Frances is also heavily involved with Girl Guiding and Early Career Professionals and she delivered a speech at Loughborough University to students about her journey to professional chartership. Frances has dedicated her time and effort into inspiring the next generation of civil engineers and has improved the education outreach of the ICE. Phosphorus removal programme – Winner – Innovation award As part of AMP7, Severn Trent Water have placed a focus on water quality schemes, especially focusing on the reduction of phosphorus (P) released into water courses to limit the risk of eutrophication. The P removal programme has used a dedicated delivery team across multiple MMB frameworks to manage the supply chain, and implement a standardised, digitally innovative design approach using Moata Intelligent Content (MIC). Throughout all MMB regions, 2,970 hours and £138,000 have been saved so far due to the implementation of MIC models into projects. Uttoxeter Water Treatment Works – Highly Commended – Medium Project award An impressive team achievement led by MMB and Severn Trent Water has provided new wastewater treatment facilities at Uttoxeter, ensuring compliance with a major tightening in discharge consent and contributing to Severn Trent’s commitment to improve the environment and ensure capacity for population growth. The inclusion of innovative processes including Enhanced Biological Phosphate Removal and a Hybrid Activated Sludge Unit has reduced infrastructure requirement and chemical usage resulting in a sustainably driven solution with a low carbon footprint. The adoption of MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) principles allowed off-site pre-fabrication of equipment to run parallel with on-site activities reducing installation periods and giving Severn Trent time to optimise the process before the new consent date. This AMP7 early obligation scheme is an excellent demonstration of how improvement of the environment can be combined with sustainable provision for future population growth. Don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest from across the business.

JN Bentley is delighted to have been awarded gold membership of The 5% Club for the second year running, following the annual Employer Audit Scheme. As one of just 119 gold standard employers, JN Bentley is proud to continually support early careers and development opportunities, recognising a long-standing tradition of investing in apprenticeships, placements, and graduate schemes. The 5% Club is a dynamic movement of employers committed to providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities through apprenticeships, sponsored student course placements and graduate training schemes as part of building and developing the workforce they need for the future. The Club exists to help its members and all employers to further increase the number, quality and range of earn and learn opportunities across the UK. In joining The 5% Club, members aspire to achieve at least 5% of their workforce in ‘earn and learn’ positions – including apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formalised training schemes. Over 10% of JN Bentley’s workforce are currently employed in these roles across the company, with 129 new starters joining the organisation throughout 2023 – a number that will continue to increase with the growth of the business. Following the announcement, Judith Jeffery, HR Director, said, "We are pleased to have maintained our gold membership with The 5% Club – an achievement that belongs to all of us at JN Bentley. It represents our collective advocacy and investment in supporting those at the start of their careers in construction and engineering. "Progress and excellence are key principles at JN Bentley, so providing young people with the opportunity to develop into the professionals of the future is both a business and social imperative." Helen Bradford, Lead Learning and Development Advisor, added, "Our early careers programme continues to grow, providing a valuable gateway into the industry, helping apprentices, placement students and graduates establish and build fulfilling careers. "The 5% Club is the kitemark of responsible employers - gold membership is a fantastic achievement and really highlights our dedication to our people and recognises us as a top early careers employer in the UK." Within the last year JN Bentley is pleased to have also been awarded the Advanced People Experience Pioneer Summit Award, in the People Experience Excellence category, for its leading approach to performance management. Find out more here. Find and follow JN Bentley on socials – LinkedIn, X (formerley Twitter), and Facebook – to keep up with the latest news from across the business.

Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) has secured a five-year contract extension with Thames Water, taking the current agreement between the two organisations through to the conclusion of AMP8, in March 2030. The news means that fully integrated design-and-construct organisation MMB will continue to build on the strong foundations established with Thames Water since original contract award at the beginning of AMP7. Thames Water is the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, serving 15 million customers across London and Thames Valley. MMB is delivering work on three frameworks in the region, which sees the company undertake a varied programme of water and wastewater non-infrastructure and infrastructure projects to improve the network. Upon news of the contract award, director Anthony Nutty commented, “It is excellent to learn that MMB has achieved a five-year extension to its three framework agreements with Thames Water. “AMP7 marked the beginning of the first ever framework agreements between MMB and Thames Water. We’re pleased with the progress we have made to date, building strong relationships with a new client and delivering some excellent schemes. “It’s a demonstration of MMB’s ability to establish itself in new parts of the country, bringing with it its unique approach to delivery as it supports its clients to deliver important projects that improve the network and enhance the environment. “We’re excited for what the remainder of AMP7 holds, and then look forward to continuing our work together with Thames Water through AMP8.” MMB continues to build its team in the Thames Valley region and is currently looking to recruit across a variety of roles including construction operatives, project leaders, civil engineers and site agents. All current vacancies are available on MMB’s careers website.