Paul Pankhurst, Group Director and Office Lead of Tony Gee St Albans, was awarded the Rochester Bridge Trust Phil Tindall Memorial Medal at the Worshipful Company of Engineers Awards Dinner on 3rd June in London.

Paul was selected for the Phil Tindall Memorial Medal, which is an award ‘designed to recognise the efforts of civil engineers who share knowledge and support newcomers to the career’, following an entry submitted by his team. The award, which comes with a £1,000 prize, was established in 2023 by the Rochester Bridge Trust in memory of Phil Tindall, a civil engineer who inspired many young engineers during his 40-year career.

Following an entry submission and an interview, Paul impressed a panel of judges by demonstrating his people-first approach, always ensuring that he allows time for mentoring alongside his professional responsibilities. Russell Race, Assistant Warden at the Trust, said: “Paul’s mentoring philosophy centres around trust, communication, shared accountability, and continuous feedback. The judges were impressed by the way he balances formal mentoring with small everyday interactions that create long-term impact.”

Paul took on the role of St Albans Office Lead in 2022 and has fostered a culture of mentoring and empowering his team there.

Paul said: “Winning this award is very humbling, particularly as my nomination came from those I have mentored and without my knowledge until the day before the submission. Recognition for this should also go to all my mentees – I’m particularly proud of watching them grow, and in some cases now becoming mentors themselves to the next generation.”

This year’s Bridges to Prosperity team have spent the last 5 months fundraising for their trip to Rwanda, nearing 60% of the £15000 fundraising target, which they need to achieve by 13th June.

Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) work with governments and isolated communities to create access to essential health care, education, and economic opportunities by building trail bridges over impassable rivers.

The 10-member team from Tony Gee and Knights Brown will be travelling to a small village in Rwanda where the requirement for an all-year-round accessible bridge has been raised by Bridges to Prosperity. The charity, with the help of the team, will plan, design and construct a bridge which will meet the criteria of the landscape and the local people.

Fundraising efforts so far have involved:

In the lead up to the team heading to Rwanda they have planned further fundraising events which include:

Read more about the project and support the team in reaching their goal here:

Emma McGregor, Senior Engineer, beat off two other finalists to win the James Rennie Medal, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, on Monday 24th March 2025.

The James Rennie Medal recognises the best Chartered Professional Review candidate of the year which saw over 1600 candidates come forward for their review.

Emma’s presentation focused on her experience working on Viking Wind Farm, a 103-turbine, 443MW onshore wind farm on mainland Shetland. Now operational, it is anticipated that this will be one of the most productive wind farms in the world, powering 500,000 homes.

Tony Gee and Knights Brown are excited to partner for another Bridges to Prosperity project in 2025.

Bridges to prosperity (B2P) work with governments and isolated communities to create access to essential health care, education, and economic opportunities by building trail bridges over impassable rivers.

This year, 10 people from Tony Gee and Knights Brown will form the 2025 team going to a small village in Rwanda. The requirement for an all-year-round accessible bridge has been raised by Bridges to Prosperity who, with the help of the team, will plan, design and construct a bridge which will meet the criteria of the landscape and the local people.

In the lead up to June the team will be fundraising for the £15,000 target goal in order to support their trip.

This is the sixth project that Tony Gee, Knights Brown and B2P will be completing together. In the past, the partnership have successfully built bridges in Rwanda and Uganda over dangerous river crossings, with the new structures helping to save lives and provide improved access to essential amenities for the local community. Since the first project in 2016, the Tony Gee and Knights Brown teams have successfully completed 5 bridges, sending 50 volunteers across the projects and connecting just over 24,000 people.

The team had their first meet up for the launch of the project at One Great George Street to meet each other, select roles for the project and discuss fundraising ideas.

Natalie Cropp, Sustainability Director and Project Sponsor, said “It was great to meet the team at the ICE this week, with clear enthusiasm for the cause and commitment to the project from everyone involved. The fundraising ahead is no small task but the team have some excellent ideas to challenge themselves and engage their friends, family and local communities in their efforts. Good luck B2P Team 2025!”

Alasdair Fowler, Executive Director, said “It is very pleasing to see us supporting another B2P project in 2025. On every project we have completed so far it has been very humbling to see just how much a single bridge means to the local communities and this project will be no different. There were many applications for the 2025 team so many thanks to everyone who applied and well done to the team selected. It is no small challenge the team has taken on – but like previous teams I have every confidence this experience will be extremely rewarding”.

We are looking forward to following the team during their fundraising efforts in the lead up to their trip to Rwanda, where they will spend two weeks with the local community to build a trail swing bridge.

Consultant engineering partnership Tony Gee has announced Alasdair Fowler is to take up the new post of CEO as part of changes to the group’s leadership structure, effective from the beginning of 2025.

He will also act as Tony Gee’s UK Managing Director after nearly 14 years with Tony Gee, most recently as Executive Director.

Executive Managing Director Chris Young will take up a new position as Chair of Tony Gee’s Executive Board, overseeing the group’s strategy.

Tony Gee expects its UK operations to remain the largest part of the business. The group’s continued growth means a more appropriate business structure is necessary to ensure the group remains agile and takes full advantage of global opportunities with continued integration and collaboration between all the offices around the world.

Alasdair Fowler said: “The change at Tony Gee will be good for our clients and for our very talented and dedicated team. It will help to ensure Tony Gee continues to innovate and provide sustainable and market leading consultant engineering services across all the sectors we operate in.”

Chris Young said: “These changes will drive the continued success and growth of Tony Gee across all disciplines and locations. It’s an exciting time for everyone here, but although we are becoming a bigger player, we will maintain our distinctive culture and values wherever we operate around the world.”

The Tony Gee Group celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The business is technically led and works across both the private and public sectors in transport, energy, industry and education.

Read an exclusive interview with Alasdair Fowler for New Civil Engineer Magazine here.