1st June 2012
Top award for University of Bath student in property competition
2012 Women in Property National Student Awards regional finals
A University of Bath student has been named as one of the top property students in the country in a national property industry competition, the Association of Women in Property (WiP) National Student Awards. Anne-Marie Ratcliffe, studying MEng in Civil Engineering has taken theSouth West title.
Anne-Marie Ratcliffe will now represent her region at the National Final, which takes place in London on 18th September. She was named as the winner during a presentation held in Bristolon 31st May.
Jo Williams, Chairman of WiP’s South West branch and a chartered Building Surveyor at Ridge & Partners LLP said, “The National Student Awards are now in their sixth year and have become a firm fixture on the industry and education calendar. It is a tough process for the students, who come from across the region. We ask them to deliver their best in front of a panel of judges, after which one is selected to go forward to the national Final, when she will compete against students from across the UK.
“This makes Anne-Marie’s achievement even greater. She has done incredibly well to get to this point and will, I have no doubt, find the whole experience extremely valuable as she goes forward into a career in the industry.”
Anne-Marie wins £300, an opportunity for work experience, free membership of the Association upon graduating and the opportunity to participate in the WiP mentoring programme whereby a mentor will support her in her early career.
She said, “I was really pleased to be put forward for this Award by my tutor but I’m absolutely amazed to have won! Having met the other girls in the regional Final, I know how tough the competition was so I’m thrilled that the judges chose me for the top prize.”
Such was the calibre of the students, the judges were pleased to announce a further award of Highly Commended to Emily Scoones, studying MEng Civil and Architectural Engineering, also at the University of Bath.
The National Student Awards are now in their sixth year. Open to female, second year students studying a Built Environment degree course, students are nominated by their Universities, hence only the very best get to this stage. The National Student Awards are this year sponsored nationally by Byrne Group and Turner & Townsend and regionally by Vinci Construction.
Paul Salmon of Byrne Group, said “We have been involved in these Awards for the past five years and the quality of the students keeps on improving. There is still a real imbalance of women to men in the property and construction industry – women represent just 15% of the workforce - so Byrne Group is delighted to support WiP to help encourage young women to pursue careers in this sector and go on to become our future business leaders.”
Commenting on Anne-Marie, the judges said, “She would make a great ambassador and role model. Anne-Marie has demonstrated practical and problem-solving strengths, she shows expansive thinking and is a confident conversationalist.”
The five other finalists this year were:
- Harriet Parkin studying Building Surveying and Environment at the University of Plymouth
- Isobelle Paterson studying Civil Engineering at the University of Plymouth
- Caterina di Garbo studying BA (Hons) Landscape Architecture at Gloucester University
- DivyaNakwa studying Architecture at the University of Bath
- Fabienne Blunden studying Architecture at the University of Plymouth
The Awards:-
- Recognise the talent available to the industry at the earliest possible stage
- Highlight to industry the necessity to link with universities early in the educational process
- Broaden the opportunities open to students as they progress through their university career
- Improve the knowledge of those at university on the career options available
- Improve the students’ skills to present their coursework
The 2012 Judges were Martin Thomas of Vinci Construction, Tamara Jordan of Stride Treglown Ltd, Caroline Hall of Byrne group, Cathy Stewart of Cathy Stewart Associates and Jo Williams of Ridge & Partners.
The National Student Awards ‘Best of the Best’ final takes place at Claridge’s in London on Tuesday 18thth September, with the successful finalist winning £700 and a year’s membership of Women in Property.
ENDS