A leader at Morgan Sindall Construction has secured a major prize at this year's National Social Value Awards.

Head of Social Value and Sustainability, Louise Townsend was recognised with the Individual Leadership Award, paying tribute to the contribution she has made to the social value debate and in developing best practice.

The awards, which are celebrating their second year, aim to showcase best practice from around the UK on how all industries are embedding social value into the way they work.

Since joining in 2008, Louise's leadership has seen Morgan Sindall Construction develop a position at the vanguard of social value in construction, as shown by the launch last year of the Social Value Bank, a tool designed to provide better forecasting and analysis of social value outputs.

Louise has shared her experience and insight with governmental departments and procurement bodies, and was also instrumental in Morgan Sindall Group becoming the first construction firm to form a strategic partnership with Social Value UK. The collaboration will see the two organisations work together to optimise social value outputs from construction activity and embed best practice analysis across the wider industry.

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Darren Knowd, Chair, National Social Value Taskforce and Chief Procurement Officer of Durham County Council said: "The submission was excellent and showed how Louise had gone beyond 'business as usual' embedded social value in business planning and project delivery. She has inspired others such that the approach has now become the benchmark for all Morgan Sindall Group Companies.

"Louise has worked collaboratively across sectors; public, private and civil society sectors and made valuable contributions to industry and government social value work, as well as participating in the British Standard 76005 'Valuing People in the Workplace'. Her work in developing the Responsible Procurement Framework has made a real social value impact in local communities."

Commenting on her award win, Louise added: "It's a huge honour to receive the Individual Leadership award. I am certain that the true potential of social value will only be achieved via inter-industry collaboration. Together, we're stronger and it’s through companies sharing best practice that we will be able to better deliver for those who need it most.

"My industry is very much at the forefront of the social value conversation, and it's a privilege for me to work at Morgan Sindall Construction, a company that is committed to using innovation and bold practices in order to deliver better results for the communities we work in across the country."

(CM/JG)