The team collected the award at a black tie ceremony held at Manchester Central beating off stiff competition in a tightly fought category of the prestigious awards which recognise the businesses, projects and personalities helping drive forward the region’s commercial property industry.
The judges chose Eric Wright Construction as the winner based on the successful completion and delivery of a number of key projects in the past twelve months, taking into consideration the social value delivered, the technical complexity of the projects, client satisfaction, health and safety record and the challenging market conditions for delivery and cost-control.
The exemplar projects, which include the construction of a 1,025 seat stand and a six story block featuring a 100-bedroom Hilton Garden Inn for Lancashire Cricket Club at Emirates Old Trafford.
Another notable project was the delivery of Pioneer Place in Burnley town centre – an impressive mixed-use leisure complex which includes a seven-screen cinema alongside a total of 12,750 sq ft of leisure and retail space across five units. High profile tenants include Loungers, Nando’s, and Starbucks.
The judges also considered the completion of a 140-bedroom Premier Inn hotel, in the heart of Preston city centre which was originally completed by another contractor, but which needed to be updated and fire protection measures installed in line with current building regulations.
Commenting on collecting the Construction Business of the Year Award, James Eager, construction director said: “Despite an immensely challenging year economically for some in the construction sector, our combined efforts have enabled the business to perform exceptionally well over the last twelve months and the team is absolutely delighted to receive this award.
“It is a huge credit to the consistent loyalty, commitment, hard work and determination of everyone across our business. The breadth of talent and ability we have is testament to the variety of complex projects undertaken and we all have a huge sense of pride in who we are and what we achieved.
He continued: “In 2023, we successfully completed eight projects for satisfied clients across the North West region, on time and on budget whilst making a genuine impact on the people and communities where we work.
“We have maintained our position as regional contractor of choice for high quality, well-established public and private sector clients and our robust pipeline of genuine opportunities across our chosen sectors has never been as strong. Converting these opportunities and unlocking their potential isn’t possible however without all our people and strong strategic leadership and support from our Board.
“We will continue to grow in a measured and sustainable way and for our profits to either be invested back into the business for future growth and stability or used to support the charitable work of The Eric Wright Charitable Trust.”
