On October 4, the annual British Engineering Excellence Awards luncheon took place in London. As ever, it provided a heartening insight into the world class innovation and invention that exists in the UK engineering sector, with some truly outstanding entries from whom the very best were chosen as winners.
Who won what can be seen elsewhere, but what the BEEAs continue to show is the value of an event that recognises the achievements of British engineering.
When these awards were launched in 2009, things were very tough. The fallout from the global financial crisis was still being felt, the country was in and out of recession and, despite much talk of the need to rebalance the economy, the mood music around UK manufacturing and engineering was often downbeat, with a distinct shortage of good news stories and a marked unwillingness to acknowledge them where they did exist.
With that in mind, we set out to find those good news stories and to make sure they didn’t go unnoticed. This we sought to achieve by highlighting the extraordinary, often unsung achievements of British engineering. By giving the most innovative, dynamic and impressive engineers in the country a stage for the public recognition of their achievements, the BEEAs have helped to give this crucial sector of our economy the status it merits.
A lot has changed since 2009, but what certainly hasn’t changed is the purpose of the BEEAs, which is to celebrate the best of British Engineering.
