Recognising resilience and innovation in action

Welcome to this preview of the Utility Week Awards 2023, ahead of the big night on 5 December.

The record number of entries for this year’s awards is testament to the hard work and innovation taking place right across the sector.

For 2023 we overhauled the categories and criteria to bring them up to date to reflect the challenges and opportunities in front of utilities right now. The aim was to link the wide range of projects underway with the core objectives for the sector – the protection of customers and the environment, the pursuit of net zero and the need to find new ways to maintain and improve utilities infrastructure.

We also stressed the importance of going above and beyond regulatory requirements and showing evidence of a sustainable culture. The new and refreshed awards also feature a greater focus on the integral role of the supply chain and the importance of collaboration.

The sector responded with enthusiasm to the challenge thrown down and left our judges with a difficult job in whittling down the hundreds of entries across 16 categories into the shortlist included in this preview. I am extremely grateful to them for giving up their time and providing the kind of impartial and informed analysis of the entries that underpins these awards.

They welcomed the focus on tangible outputs, the evidence of genuine progress on decarbonisation and the increasing recognition that innovation is not a nice to have but an integral part of business as usual.

As well as overhauling the categories we have also taken a different approach to previewing the awards this year. On the pages overleaf you will find a summary of judges’ findings for each category, as well as a description for each entry. We hope this will bring to life the key trends and best practice across the breadth of the entries.

I am excited to reveal the winners across these categories when the industry unites to recognise the achievements of teams and individual on 5 December at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel and I hope to see you there too.

Thank you to all of you that took the time to enter this year, to our judges for their hard work and to our sponsors for their ongoing support.

Good luck to all our fabulous finalists.

James Wallin, editor, Utility Week