ConstructionSkills achiever of the year

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These finalists might be young, but they are nevertheless astute businesspeople who are changing the way construction works for the better. Hold on to your jobs … Sponsored by CITB-ConstructionSkills

Winner

Zoe Peters, Mace

When Zoe joined Mace's supply-chain management team in May 2002, it was the latest in a long line of admin jobs she'd taken since leaving school in 1998. Three-and-a-half years later, though, the 25 year old is still there, having been promoted to supply-chain team manager. So what made this entry special? Put simply, Zoe's determination to dismantle Mace's management processes and put them back together better. In her administrative role, she streamlined the supplier database and boosting knowledge-sharing across

the company. As a manager, she has designed and introduced monthly performance reports for all trade contractors, covering 14 areas including design development, site labour, health and safety, logistics and sustainability. To make sure Mace got the valuable, real-time feedback she was sure it needed, she visited every single site to talk to the person responsible for providing the data. The information is now available on Mace's intranet and is being used to identify suppliers' training needs. Zoe has also done her bit for the planet - eliminating complex, paper-based prequalification systems after developing and testing an online replacement - and for charity - cycling from London to Brighton with colleagues raising funds for the British Heart Foundation. It's no wonder her employer sponsored her Higher National Certificate in business at the University of Greenwich, which she completed in 2004. And Zoe's future looks bright - she is now working as business manager of a new Mace venture, a business school for its key suppliers.

Zoe Peters, Mace

Runners up

Adam Cannon, Bovis Lend Lease
Highly commended

Trainee construction manager Adam is learning his trade on Bovis Lend Lease's Bankside 123 office development. More than 97% of the waste removed from the central London site is being recycled - three times as much as the 30% target set by the European parliament. And it was this determined 22-year-old that made it happen, by monitoring the daily reports produced by the on-site logistics consultant Alandale and identifying the subcontractors who were lagging behind on recycling and waste segregation. Once he had his targets in sight, Adam went out and made friends with them, getting to know them and their jobs so well that he could find exactly the right way to charm or cajole them to change their ways. This was no overnight process but Adam just wouldn't give up, issuing daily reports on waste and kicking up a fuss until everyone realised something special was happening at Bankside 123. Now all the trade contractors are keen to keep up the impressive recycling record and Adam has become a well-known and knowledgeable man on site.