The Association for Project Management (APM) announced its 2005 award winners at a gala dinner at the Savoy Hotel, London, earlier this month. The Sir Monty Finniston Award, APM's top award, was presented to Stephen Wearne of the University of Manchester.

In announcing the awards, Graham Woodward, Chairman of the Judges, asserted: "Since their launch in 1993 the APM Project Management Awards have become the most prestigious of their kind in the country. APM leads the way in rewarding and celebrating project management success, truly reflecting the huge contribution it makes to organizations in all sectors and industries."

The most prestigious of the APM Project Management Awards, the Sir Monty Finniston Award, is presented to the individual or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the development of project management as a vehicle for effective change. Stephen Wearne earned the award for, among other achievements, an original investigation of the management of urgent and emergency projects, and case studies of the lessons of managing the recovery work following flood, rail and other threats and disasters in various countries.

The Thames Valley Police Firearms Training Centre, by Hannah Reed and Associates, earned the Project of the Year Award, presented to the company of a project delivered within the UK that has best met its objectives. The Thames Valley Police Firearms Training Centre was a project with unique requirements, such as very rigorous health and safety requirements. The judges praised the project manager for bringing together diverse experts in this very specialized environment and also for involving the end users from the outset.

Project Manager of the Year was awarded to Lise Taylor of Black & Veatch. The Project Manager of the Year Award is presented to the project manager who provides the most effective demonstration of project management competence, no matter the scale or type of project. The judges liked Taylor's emphasis on the soft benefits and the performance of the project team in conjunction with the client and the high level of innovation in developing new resource management tools and techniques.

Other awards announced at the awards dinner included:

• Young Project Manager of the Year - Sandra Cummings of Faithful & Gould.
• Enterprise Project of the Year - Team Ellen - Single Handed Challenge, by OCGroup
• Overseas Project of the Year - British Council Alexandria by Davis Langdon
• Community Project of the Year - Bordesley Centre for the Muath Trust by RLF
• Brian Willis Award - Kathleen Noble of Napier University
• Geoffrey Trimble Award - Daniel Mann from Rolls Royce