The first of the MERIT 2015 prizes, the winner of the Sponsors Award, has been decided.
Congratulations to Atkins Asia Pacific.
With a great final effort from all their teams, they surged into first place in this last round overtaking Atkins India. The Sponsors Award will be presented at the Final Dinner, and this is the first time the award has gone to Hong Kong.
The six finalists have also been decided and the top six teams held on.
Mott MacDonald's 'Strike while the iron is Mott' remain in first place and even stretch their lead over second place. Mott Mac has won two MERIT Championships and three Sponsors Awards and will arrive in the final with confidence. The Mott Mac team is based in Sheffield.
Atkins Asia Pacific's 'Amazing' moved up from third place to second. Atkins Asia Pacific has been in finals in recent years but have yet to win a Championship. Last year MTR were the first from Hong Kong to produce a MERIT Champion. Atkins Asia Pacific are keen to keep the Championship in Hong Kong and winning their first Sponsor Award will fill them with great confidence.
Atkins India's 'Singularity' from Bengaluru are now in third but only 91 points behind 'Amazing' with their colleagues 'Ubiquitous' from Gurgaon in fourth a further 60 points back. Atkins India has also been in recent finals and like their colleagues from Asia Pacific have yet to win a Championship. Atkins won a Championship in 2007 , the winner was a UK team from Wessex.
New to the finals and seeking their first Championship is Interserve with their team 'Beagle 2' from Birmingham in fifth place. The last construction company to win MERIT was Costain in 2011. Interserve could well be the next.
The final finalist is Arup's 'Arupians take NYC'. Arup are the most successful MERIT sponsor with three Championships and three Sponsors Awards. So 'Arupians take NYC' have a proud record to defend. 'Arupians take NYC' are based in Arup's New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Brazil offices.
With two teams from India, two teams from the UK, one team from Hong Kong and one team from the USA this is the most international MERIT Final ever.
There is a spread of some 20% between first and sixth with eight rounds in the final in a more competitive environment with decisions taken under the pressure of time constraints every team in the final can win. Over the years we've experienced the winner starting the final in sixth place and the team in first place at this stage frequently is not being there at the end. All we can promise is the final will be competitive with the high motivation of all six finalists.
AECOM, EMHighway Services, AURECON and Hyder narrowly missed the top six we hope they are not too disappointed having put in a fine performance We trust all the other teams who didn't make the final enjoyed the MERIT 2015 competition and the training experience in company, business and financial management. The jockeying for position went on till the end displaying a commitment from all teams.
Click here to see the League table For Period 12