Construction salutes Seb Coe at Building Awards

Sebastian Coe's achievement in delivering the Olympic games to London was recognised by the construction industry last night when he was named personality of the year at the Building Awards.

The biggest construction awards ceremony of the year also saw success for Taylor Woodrow, Redrow, Bennetts and Davis Langdon.

John White was named chief executive of the year at the awards, which celebrated the World Cup and starred footballers from England's 1966 winning side.

The Persimmon boss oversaw the £643m takeover of Westbury and the firm made a record pre-tax profit of £495.4m last year.

White faced stiff competition for the prestigious award with Stuart Chambers of Pilkington, John Dodds of Kier, John McDonough of Carillion, Alan Murray of Hanson and David Pretty of Barratt all on the shortlist.

The major contractor of the year was Taylor Woodrow, which also scooped the Constructing Excellence Award. The company were praised for gaining a formidable reputation for delivering projects on time.

The major housebuilder of the year award went to Redrow. The company posted a record pre-tax profit of £141m recently and launched the attractive Debut range of new homes for first time buyers.

Bennetts Associates won the architectural practice of the year, while construction consultant award went to Davis Langdon. Cyril Sweett was highly commended in the latter category.

Project/construction manager of the year went to Mace, whose Zoe Peters collected the award for ConstructionSkills achiever of the year.

World Cup legends Martin Peters and George Cohen attended the ceremony, and BBS Sport's John Motson and Adrian Chiles also welcomed Pat Jennings and Bob Wilson to the stage.

The event raised over £26,000 for Bob Wilson's Willow Foundation, which aims to improve the quality of life for young adults with life threatening conditions. Among the contributions was a large cheque from Fenwick Elliott, which was handed to Bob Wilson on the stage.