Professor Peter McDermott

Chair of the Judges, North West Regional Construction Awards

Peter is Professor of Construction Procurement in the School of Science, Engineering and Environment at the University of Salford, where he currently serves on Senate and the University Council. Externally he is currently an Independent verifier for the Gold Standard (An Independent review of Public Sector Frameworks, and of the Liverpool Manchester Rail Partnership Board.

Jared Allen

Director of Capital Programmes, Manchester City Council

Jared is responsible for the direct delivery of Manchester City Council's construction activities and the management of the City’s £1.4bn Capital Programme. He has over 20 years of Director level management experience and over 30 years of property and construction experience. Jared is Chair of the NWCH Board.

Gwen Beeken

Managing Director, Procure Plus

With a passion for collaboration and continuous improvement, Gwen is MD of Procure Plus, set up by the social housing sector to support them in improving their homes and communities.

Phil Cusack

Chairman, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Phil has held senior roles in construction companies and consultancies in the North West as well as Non-Executive Directorships. He is a Director of the social housing provider, Derive, and is Chair of the Planning and Transportation Regulatory Panel of Salford City Council. Phil is a Chartered Town Planner and a member of the Chartered Management Institute.

James Flannery

Liverpool City Region Constructing Excellence Club

James has 25 years experience in specialist market sectors in construction, education and regeneration. He is a member of the Liverpool City Region Metro Mayors Skills Commission and the National Council for the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry. He is Director of Land and Construction at Sovini.

Lucy Farrer

Generation 4 Change (G4C) North West

Lucy provides commercial and contractual support services on various infrastructure projects. Having studied law and working in residential/commercial conveyancing and private client sectors, Lucy remains determined to apply best practice advocated by various professional bodies.

Kevin Jones

Project Director, Local Partnerships (Treasury/LGA)

Kevin has extensive experience in major infrastructure and capital delivery in both the public and private sectors. His current role at Local Partnerships is helping the public sector in the delivery of investment in local infrastructure and local services.

David Kemp

Director and national lead for Sustainable Communities & Industries, Turner & Townsend (Manchester Best Practice Club)

David brings 20+ years' experience delivering sustainability and procurement projects. He leads a £2.5bn national retrofit programme and advises on multiple regional low-carbon and innovation-focused panels and taskforces.

John Marland

Chief Development Officer at Bruntwood SciTech

Having previously been Director of Building & Construction, responsible for all construction activity that Bruntwood and its subsidiaries undertake, John has more recently moved and taken on broader responsibilities as Chief Development Officer.

Charmaine O’Connor

Charmaine is Chief Executive of PP O’Connor and has developed and implemented a growth strategy across the civil engineering business specialising in bulk earthworks, remediation, complex demolition and deconstruction, sustainable disposal and aggregate supply.

Dr Michael Potts

Head of Procurement & Supply Chain (UK & RoW Infrastructure, BAE Systems)

Mike is a specialist in commercial strategy and strategic procurement with a background across a wide range of delivery and change projects in utilities and has recently moved over to defence.

Brian Quinn

Legal Director, Hill Dickinson LLP

Brian is Non-Exec Director at Seddon Construction. He acts as advisor on complex construction and infrastructure projects in the UK and around the world.

Katie Rudin

Housing and Innovation Director, Akerlof (National Constructing Excellence Members)

Katie is Housing & Innovation Director at Akerlof, leading MMC and DfMA strategies. She shapes national policy, delivers digital solutions, and champions scalable, inclusive innovation to achieve lasting social, economic, and environmental impact.

Professor Jason Underwood

Chair of the UK BIM Academic Forum

Jason is a Professor in Construction ICT & Digital Built Environments at the University of Salford and Programme Director of the MSc. in Building Information Modelling (BIM) & Digital Built Environments.