GIRI sponsors Teambuild prize in memory of Tom Barton

GIRI’s founding executive director, the late Tom Barton, is to have an award named in his honour and sponsored by the Get It Right Initiative as part of the annual Teambuild competition. Young construction industry professionals participating in the multi-disciplinary contest will be set a challenge based around the core principle of avoiding error, and the team that responds best to the task will be awarded the £1,000 Tom Barton Prize.  

Tom was instrumental in the establishment of the Get It Right Initiative, and held the position of executive director from the organisation’s launch in 2017 until his untimely death in October 2020.

Teambuild aims to improve collaboration, coordination, and communication across the construction industry, making it the ideal platform on which to share GIRI’s message and help create a culture of right first time. Working in multi-disciplinary teams, competitors must complete a series of tasks based around a real construction project, learning to communicate and work effectively together through the planning, designing and developing of the project in four stages.

Participating teams will be briefed on GIRI’s challenge before the competition, and provided with resources including GIRI’s Guide to Improving Value by Reducing Design Error, which sets out a series of best practice recommendations for construction projects.  

GIRI executive director Cliff Smith will judge the event and Tom’s widow Mary Barton will present the award to the winning team.

“GIRI is a first class organisation which shares many of our goals and values in its aims of improving the UK construction industry,” said Teambuild chair Patricia Bessey. “We're delighted to announce that we will be introducing the new Tom Barton Prize in honour of Tom who was held in such high regard in the industry.”

As a result of the impact of Covid on the industry, Teambuild 2021 has been postponed until Spring 2022. The event will now take place over a residential weekend on 4-6 March 2022 at the Lane End Conference Centre near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

Teambuild is open to individuals, partial or full teams of up to six members, all of whom should have less than six years' post-graduate experience working in the construction industry. The cost per entry is £475 plus VAT per entrant but there is a discount for entries from teams of three or more members which will be charged at £425 plus VAT per entrant. 

More information about entry requirements and how to enter is available on the Teambuild website. 

For more information and how to enter, visit the Teambuild website.