Midlands contractor wins national award

Midlands-based contractor G F Tomlinson [1] is celebrating after its recent project for Nottingham Trent University was crowned a winner at the national LABC Building Excellence Awards last week.

The contractor, which has offices in Derby, Newark and Birmingham, saw its Medical Technology Innovation Facility (MTIF) for client Nottingham Trent University named nationally as Best New-Build in the non-residential category.

The construction of the £5.5million Medical Technology Innovation Facility was completed in winter 2020, with G F Tomlinson working alongside Maber Architects on the scheme. The project was supported by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership with funding received by the University through its Local Growth Fund allocation.

The facility focuses on the research and development of innovative products and advanced materials to meet future healthcare needs - the key aim is to improve patient care by speeding up medical product development and ensuring innovations reach the market as quickly as possible, which is critical for patients, business, the NHS and regional economic growth.

The scheme was crowned a winner at the awards ceremony which was held at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London, with more than the 700 guests in attendance at the prestigious event.

This national award win comes after G F Tomlinson celebrated success at LABC's regional Building Excellence Awards last year, winning three accolades which were subsequently named as finalists in the national awards.

As well as the success of the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility, the regional awards saw G F Tomlinson's flagship project for Nottingham Castle win Best Non-Residential Conversion, with its Tower Garden Pavilion scheme in Skegness winning Best Public or Community Building - a project which was successfully delivered via the company's ongoing involvement on the Scape Regional Construction framework.

Chris Flint, managing director at G F Tomlinson, said: "We are extremely pleased to have won this national accolade at the LABC awards - it is wonderful to be recognised amongst such strong competition that highlights all of the fantastic work that has been happening in the industry over the last year.

"The Medical Technologies Innovation Facility at Nottingham Trent University is an impressive building for many reasons - both in the way it has been designed and constructed, and in its purpose in progressing the development, clinical production and commercialisation of new medical technologies.

"There were several technical aspects we had to get absolutely right in order to provide the best possible working environment - including ensuring that the facility has the correct pressure, ventilation and seals needed, as well as the placement and optimum performance of highly-specialised laboratory equipment.

"It is exciting to see our other two regional-winning projects recognised as national finalists, too - Nottingham Castle is our flagship project to date and we were pleased to work with so many different local and regional specialists and teams to complete the work on time. It is also rewarding to see a smaller value project like the Tower Gardens Pavilion in Skegness pick up so many regional awards over the last 18 months and go on to national recognition. Working jointly with our partner, Scape, this project has a strong community story to tell."

G F Tomlinson works across multiple sectors within the construction industry including education, civic, healthcare, heritage, residential and industrial.

Over the years, it has partnered with a number of framework clients including Scape's Regional Construction framework, delivering local projects with the aim of providing social value initiatives in order to benefits the communities, environment and economy within the midlands region.