Finalists for the prestigious TeamBuild contest have just been announced, ahead of next month's three-day competition.

Supported by Construction Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the industry, and many professional institutions, TeamBuild offers teams of up to six professionals from different disciplines the chance to work on a real-life construction challenge.

Nine teams from 24 different companies and from offices across the country including Birmingham, Bristol and London have been selected to contend for the three cash prizes on offer to those who excel at the residential event at Eynsham Hall in Oxfordshire.

Super architect Bea Zimelka, part of the winning TeamBuild 2008 team, said: "This experience has been hugely beneficial to us as individuals and as a team. We had the most fantastic experience, both professionally and personally. The project was challenging, and we had to stick to a budget as we would in a real situation, so it stretched all of our technical and teamworking skills.

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"There was also a lot of informal networking in the bar afterwards."

A team of judges drawn from the top echelons of industry marks the teams on architectural, landscape, civil, structural, M&E, financial, construction and project management skills.

Participation in the final weekend counts as four days' CPD as well as helping competitors fulfil several of the core objectives required for chartered membership of many institutions.

It starts with a masterplan proposal and runs right through the construction process, finishing with the construction stage of a major development.

There are three cash prizes; for the overall winning team, best procurement strategy and a judges' discretionary prize.

The competition is supported by professional built environment institutions, employers, the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects and the Worshipful Company of Constructors, among others.

(GK/BMcC)