Arup and City Council win award for partnership working

Arup, the global employee-owned sustainability and engineering consultancy, has won a prestigious award for its approach to public-private partnerships in Birmingham.

The Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards 2023 recognise the work Arup and Birmingham City Council carried out in collaboration before, during and since the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which were launched a year ago on 28 July.

The engagement and legacy aspects of the Games have been highlighted as a powerful example of partnership in practice.

This has allowed the council to move forward with further commercial and cultural programmes into 2023, for example, as well as successfully bring the Perry Barr masterplan to fruition.

Arup 's ability to add this value and bring a fresh perspective to many of the key aspects of the Games preparation and delivery, from transport, venue design and legacy, also continues to shape and benefit local communities today.

The LGC Awards recognise Arup 's influence on the city-wide preparedness for the Games and how it helped the city maximise the potential of the audiences, media attention and profile throughout 2022. By ensuring a joined up approach to transport, logistics and the visitor experience, Arup was at the heart of the maximising the impact of the Games.

More than 1,200 local authority professionals gathered at Grosvenor House, London to celebrate the very best in local government at the LGC Awards last Thursday.

Abigaile Bromfield, director at Arup and head of engagement and legacy for the partnership with Birmingham City Council, said: “The partnership between Birmingham City Council and Arup demonstrates how the public and private sector can operate as one to provide efficient, integrated, and enhanced services for the benefit of the millions of citizens who depend on them at a scale that was unprecedented.

“Last summer, Birmingham hosted the 22nd Commonwealth Games - the largest multi-sport event and cultural programme to be held in England since the 2012 London Olympics.

“The Games were a huge success for all of those involved. Arup maximised its impact alongside the city with a wide-reaching programme that highlighted the shared approach and the benefits of a true public private partnership in action. ”

Arup was responsible for a number of Games programmes and improvements, including both public and private transport which in Perry Barr incorporated new public realm and public space, as well as legacy programmes, especially in and around the Perry Barr masterplan.

LGC editor Sarah Calkin said: “With shortlisted entries from councils in Cornwall, Aberdeen Northern Ireland and everywhere in between, the LGC Awards is a truly national celebration of local government and its many remarkable achievements.

“The fantastic Birmingham partnership recognised its own capacity to put the city on the world map while the community remained central to the aims and objectives of the Games.

“An exemplary project delivering an international event in unique and highly pressurised circumstances, while retaining a strong emphasis on community engagement with strong evidence of transferring private sector skills into the public sector and delivering a strong community legacy and pride in the city. ”

Arup is looking ahead to the 2023 Birmingham Festival which commemorates the 22 Games in July and to the next Commonwealth games in Victoria, Australia, in 2026.