Top national award for Director of Estates and Facilities

Director of Estates and Facilities Colin Blair MBE has won the 2018 Peter Middup Lifetime Achievement at the annual PFM Awards.  It comes on the back of numerous honours, for the head of service including an MBE in 2017

THE University of Huddersfield’s Director of Estates and Facilities, Colin Blair MBE, has been announced as the winner of a national award.

At an event held in central London, Mr Blair was named as the 2018 recipient of the Peter Middup Lifetime Achievement in PFM Awards.  It is bestowed annually on a leading figure in the field of facilities management, in memory of the former publisher of PFM - Premises and Facilities Management magazine, who died unexpectedly in 2011.

The Middup Award is a prestigious feature of the annual PFM Awards and the winner is selected by a panel of judges after they have scrutinised a 1,500-word submission detailing the career and the achievements of nominated candidates.

Mr Blair’s entry told how he had been Director of Estates and Facilities at the University of Huddersfield for 20 years and played a key role in its transformation to an award-winning institution with an international reputation.

He has overseen a rolling programme of new buildings and refurbishment that has topped £300 million and has achieved this without the need for the institution to incur debt.  He has also supervised the adaptation and maintenance of one of the sector’s finest assemblages of Victorian buildings.

Judges also learned about Mr Blair’s judgment in the recruitment of key personnel, leading to the transformation of services such as catering and cleaning services, which have themselves earned national awards.

Mr Blair has also been passionate about the University’s role in regional economic regeneration, leading him to instruct contractors to utilise local manufacturers and suppliers whenever possible.  An equally strong commitment to social mobility and inclusiveness has been reflected in highly-effective outreach projects by the Campus Support Team and Catering Services.

Prior to the Peter Middup Lifetime Achievement Award, Mr Blair’s distinctions range from a national award for his MSc in Facilities Management to an MBE in 2017 that recognised his central role in ensuring that the University of Huddersfield has one of the UK’s highest-quality campuses.

He is also an experienced organiser and supervisor of VIP visits – including Royalty – and has recently been made a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.

Mr Blair said he was delighted to have attended the 2018 PFM Awards and been named as a winner.  “In my field, this is a very prestigious event and I am proud to bring the Middup Award back to Huddersfield.  I would like to thank all of my colleagues in Estates and Facilities who made this success possible.”