More than 500 members and guests celebrated the record breaking 2025 Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) Industry Awards last night.
Almost 150 companies and individuals were recognised across 26 award categories, representing a 44% increase in entries compared with last year. This led BESA President Pete Curtis to hail the event as “a true celebration of the entire building engineering sector and its supply chains”.
The Awards Dinner and after party sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric, were held at the historic Brewery, Chiswell Street, London and followed the Association’s Annual Conference at the same venue earlier in the day.
The event was hosted by celebrity magician Ben Hanlin and celebrated the people and companies deemed to have gone “above and beyond the call of duty” for the greater good of the industry. Categories covered the full supply chain from manufacturers and distributors though contractors, engineers, and clients, and reflected the industry’s efforts to get to grips with today’s big issues like competence and compliance, indoor air quality, and decarbonisation.
New categories for 2025 included: Contractor of the Year winners for each of the four UK nations culminating in an overall National Contractor of the Year award sponsored by Ideal Heating/ACV.
There were also two specialist contractor categories for Ventilation Hygiene and Service and Maintenance firms sponsored by SFG20. Also new for 2025 were Distributor and Supplier of the Year categories.
The finalists in this year’s WorldSkills UK competition (Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump category) sponsored by BAXI were guests of honour at the dinner. BESA is the organising partner of the competition, which celebrates both emerging and existing technical skills.
Apprentices and young engineers from right across the industry were also out in force with their talents showcased in a series of awards including the Rising Star of the Year sponsored by Tilbury Douglas. There was the usual wide range of specialist apprentice categories culminating in the overall Apprentice of the Year sponsored by Gratte Brothers Group.
The Manly Trust Management Training Award provided another opportunity for a promising individual with leadership potential to progress their career.
There were three ‘Project of the Year’ awards covering the industry’s best work in Net Zero sponsored by Vexve, Indoor Air Quality sponsored by Nuaire and Retrofit sponsored by Schneider Electric. Two ‘Excellence’ awards for outstanding achievements in Competence and Compliance sponsored by airo and SFG20’s Excellence in Maintenance were also presented for the first time.
The general company initiative awards covered: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Training Provider of the Year, Product Innovation of the Year, and Learning and Development.
The full list of winners and shortlisted companies and individuals can be viewed here.