School project wins gold

The finished school project

A company manager has won a top industry award for his work on a project at Kingfisher School in Chadderton.

Peter Finegan, who works for construction firm Balfour Beatty, has received a gold medal at the annual Construction Manager of the Year Awards at the Chartered Institute of Building in London.

The accolade — in a category for new buildings and refurbishment projects costing under £4 million — recognised Mr Finegan’s leadership on the project, which involved building a new link block between two existing parts of the special-needs school.

The judges praised Mr Finegan’s “versatility and attentiveness to the needs of school users” and emphasised how his approach generated respect and confidence with other partners in the scheme.

The school’s business director, Michael Unsworth, said: “The project at Kingfisher was an incredibly complex one, building new facilities and extending and refurbishing existing areas while the school was open as usual. Due to his skills the school remained open throughout the period and was safe at all times, while delivering a fantastic building project.”