Balfour Beatty's Lisa Scargill has been announced as the inaugural winner of the Hensman Prize for her exceptional community contributions.

Initially joining Balfour Beatty in November 2022, Ms Scargill quickly ascended to the position of regional social impact manager across the North of England, thanks to her extraordinary dedication to the Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP) project at Sellafield in West Cumbria.

She had recently graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Social Enterprise Leadership from the University of Cumbria.

A vibrant leadership quality coupled with a fervent commitment to societal impact guaranteed her this accolade.

Among her initiatives are children's reading programmes in Cumbria, placement opportunities for students, and improved career learning in schools in the area.

Ms Scargill also allocated £30,000 for grassroots sponsorships and eagerly partakes in community initiatives.

She said: "My Social Impact Manager role on BEP afforded me the chance to develop and deliver these amazing activities, with BEP having the best Social Impact outputs in the project's lifetime, this year.

"Since joining Balfour Beatty, I’ve always felt supported to continue my studies."

This acknowledgement sets a tone for future prize contenders.

Balfour Beatty is a leading international infrastructure group with 26,000 employees driving the delivery of powerful new solutions, shaping thinking, creating skylines and inspiring a new generation of talent to be the change-makers of tomorrow.