The first of the MERIT 2016 prizes has been decided, so it is congratulations to Atkins India, the winner of the Sponsors Award. This is the first time the Sponsors Award has gone to India, and it will be presented by Mick Guy of CITB at the Final Dinner on 12th May.
The finalists have also been decided as the top six teams repelled all assaults, and held onto their respective positions from the last round:
Atkins India's 'Spartans' go into the final in first place followed by Atkins China's 'One Atkins', Arup's 'SUPERnOVA', Mott MacDonald's 'Nott MacDonalds' and Atkins'India's 'Singularity' and 'ATRIUM'
The final places were closely contested, as narrowly missing out on the Final by only 115 points are Arup's 'Overated' and by 129 points Arup's 'Mind over Matter'.
With three teams from India and two from Hong Kong, only one team is from the UK in this year's final, which makes it the most international ever.
The most we've had previously is two teams from the same company but this year Atkins India have raised that to three and if you add Atkins China coming from the same group then this has the look of being Atkins year.
Atkins India has featured in the Finals for the last few years but have yet to claim the top prize. This year winning the Sponsors award is the first replacing Atkins China who won it last year. Neither Atkins India nor Atkins China have produced a MERIT Champion… yet!
Atkins China was runner up last year, and Atkins UK has had one Champion in 2007 with three Sponsors Awards in 2002, 2003 and 2009.
Mott MacDonald won last year and have been Champions three times as have Arup, so there is some winning experience in the final.
Sir John Armitt, President of the ICE and Alan Crane Past President of CIOB will attend the final to present certificates to the finalists, the Silver Salver and cash prizes to the winners and runners up.
The record shows that, more often than not, the team in first place at the end of the Early Years fails to become champion, although last year the leading team did go onto win. We have also experienced the winner coming through from sixth place.
Given the points score of the finalists and another eight rounds of an even more competitive competition under severe time pressure any team can win. With only 17% between top and bottom we look forward to the tension and excitement of the battle to come. All we can promise is the final will be competitive with the high motivation of all six finalists.
Many teams put in fine performances and we trust all the teams who didn't make the final enjoyed the MERIT 2016 competition and the training experience in company, business and financial management, together with the experience of the need for team work and leadership to deliver disciplined decision making. MERIT has a record of raising aspirations and influencing future training and development as individuals think about what role in the industry they aspire too. The advice in taking part was to think like a director, act like a director. If you liked the role then set out to train to be a director. The industry needs leaders.
The jockeying for position went on till the end displayed a commitment from all teams. Every team member who's team completed the Early Years of MERIT 2016 will receive their certificate and the MERIT experience qualifies for CPD.