Our Judges

Joanne Bridges, Director, Bridges Communications

Joanne is one of the UK’s leading strategic communications specialists in the built environment, with a particular passion and longstanding experience in offsite construction and MMC which spans more than three decades.

Joanne set up Bridges Communications in 1998 to provide a range of strategic marketing services to the construction and offsite sectors.

She led the public relations operations for the Portakabin Group for 20 years and has worked for a wide range of other industry leading offsite specialists for the past decade.

These include US-headquartered Volumetric Building Companies – the global modular building specialist in the residential and hotel sectors; Offsite Solutions – the UK’s longest established bathroom pod manufacturer, and steel-framed modular companies Premier Modular and McAvoy.

Among other clients, she now works for TALO which is bringing advanced Cat 2 panelised timber offsite superstructure technology from Finland to the UK to deliver ultra-low and zero energy low-rise housing, with the wider aim of eradicating fuel poverty.

Joanne has been an active member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations for more than 30 years and continues to work closely with the MPBA and Buildoffsite to raise awareness of offsite and modular solutions in the UK.

She was a Judge at the Modern Methods of Construction Awards and the Buildoffsite Innovation Challenge in 2024.

www.bridgescommunications.co.uk

Alan Guthrie, Journalist, Guthrie on Hire

Alan Guthrie is an award-winning journalist and blogger. Throughout a varied journalistic career, he has edited and written for trade publications in diverse industries, and in areas such as business management and general news reporting.

In 2020 he founded the blog ‘Alan Guthrie On Hire’ focusing on the tool, plant and equipment hire industry, which has become a trusted source of independent, unbiased information for the sector. In 2021 he added a dedicated section to the website called ‘Site-Eco’ reporting on new technology and sustainability trends in the hire industry and related markets as the world moves towards Net Zero.

Last year, Alan marked 25 years of covering an industry that never ceases to highlight opportunity, embrace challenge and continuously innovate. The journalistic challenge is to find new ideas and the right angles, while ensuring that smaller voices are heard as well as louder ones.

Richard Hipkiss, Development Director, Modular and Portable Building Association

With an engineering background before moving into the construction industry early 2000's the impact of the fusion of manufacturing and construction comes as no surprise. Richard has been a Director of the MPBA for 3 years, setting up the Learning Hub to close the knowledge gap across the industry and help develop a solution for possible skills shortages in the future. 

Mel Jacobsen Cox ProCure23 Technical Lead, NHS England

Mel joined the NHS England’s ProCure23 team in 2024 and works across the NHS in England supporting Primary Supply Chain Partners who are appointed under the ProCure23 Framework.  Mel has 25 years’ experience working across the construction industry, with over 15 years working within the healthcare sector.   A qualified and registered architect, she was an Associate Director at ADP architects before becoming Head of Healthcare at HLM architects. Her day-to-day role within NHSE is overseeing the Efficiency and Productivity Working groups which cover design, assurance, digital, standardisation, MMC and NZC and focusses on developing tools and methodologies to assist the performance of preconstruction and construction processes across NHS capital projects. In addition to this, Mel interfaces with the wider NHS England Estates and Facilities team and across various construction industry steering groups.  A passionate believer in the improving the healthcare environment for both patients and staff, she champions the use of standardisation and MMC to delivery a consistent quality and approach.

Andy King, Group Technical Director, Wernick Group

Technical Chairman – MPBA  
Technical Director – Wernick Group Limited

Andy has 27 years of experience working within the modular industry and has valuable knowledge of the special features of modular design and product development. Andy is Technical Director for the Wernick Group, a company that has decades of experience delivering buildings over all sectors.

Andy has also been Chairman of the Technical Committee for the Modular & Portable Building Association (MPBA) for 22 years, working with other members of the industry to improve the professionalism of the industry and raise awareness of the benefits of modular buildings.

Jackie Maginnis, Chief Executive Officer of the Modular & Portable Building Association

A great ambassador for MMC, with over 35 years’ experience in the volumetric / modular industry.

She has a deep understanding of the modular and portable building industry, and works tirelessly to promote best practice abd continued innovation within the sector.

Prior to her role with the MPBA, Jackie worked for a manufacturing and hire company. With her passion for the industry sector and the help of the committees from within the member companies, part of her role is to promote the features and benefits of the use of offsite volumetric buildings.

As Chief Executive Office of the MPBA, Jackie plays a key role in the connecting of sectors in the modular and portable building industry together.

James Morton, Design Engineer, Ramboll

James Morton is a dedicated professional in the field of construction and engineering, with a strong focus on Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), carbon reduction, and circular economy. His ongoing research and practical experience across his structural engineering projects has helped him develop a thorough understanding of how sustainable practices can be effectively integrated into the built environment. James is committed to promoting innovative and ecological solutions within the construction industry. As a judge for the MMC awards, he hopes to contribute his knowledge and passion for sustainable engineering to help recognise and support excellence in innovative construction methods.

Nathalie Meunier, Business Development Director, Premier Modular

She has around 30 years’ experience in the offsite sector, having worked for leading modular building specialists in the UK, France and Africa, and across a range of sectors including healthcare, education, residential, and oil and gas.  

In 2024, Nathalie won the Women in Modern Methods of Construction Award at the MMC Awards in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the industry.

A passionate advocate of MMC and modular construction, Nathalie is active at industry level, working with organisations such as the MPBA and the Supply Chain Sustainability School, to help promote the value of offsite construction and its contribution to growing the UK economy and increasing the capacity of public services – from schools and hospitals to defence and temporary housing.

Her role at Premier Modular includes responsibility for national strategy for its permanent modular solutions across multiple sectors, including education, healthcare, commercial, infrastructure and temporary housing.

She also works on the creation of partnerships and strategic alliances, and on the development of new delivery models for modular buildings.

www.premiermodular.co.uk

Keira Proctor, Managing Director, A Proctor

Keira Proctor has been Managing Director since 2012, where she took over from her father, Allan Proctor. Sitting at the same desk as her father and grandfather she continues their legacy while strengthening the core values that have defined the company for generations—trust, honesty, hard work, and innovation.

Under Keira’s leadership, the company has not only consolidated its market-leading position but has also expanded into new global sectors. She has been instrumental in driving innovation, developing cutting-edge solutions to simplify air leakage reduction in building envelopes.

With a deep-rooted passion for progress, Keira Proctor is dedicated to shaping the future of the industry while staying true to the values that have long been the foundation of the company’s success.

Simon Reid, Managing Director, Lungfish Architects

Simon is the ambitious, energetic leader of Lungfish Architects and has curated a collection of talented creatives with a people-centric vision of what architecture can be - driving innovation in the built environment. By challenging industry norms, Lungfish take clients on rewarding journeys via a sustainable and efficient design led approach. 

With a vision to lead a very different kind of practice, Simon is at the forefront of transforming multiple sectors using MMC, designing and delivering national programmes of work for public and private sector clients. Currently the practice is developing a low carbon MMC design solution for Forest Schools across the UK. 

Stephen Wightman, Director, UK MMC Lead, AtkinsRéalis

Before joining AtkinsRéalis in 2021, Stephen was a Senior Director in the Offsite construction industry for more than 22 years. During this time he owned and managed a variety of businesses in the Offsite manufacturing and contracting markets, in both large corporate entities and smaller dynamic growing enterprises.

With detailed specialist knowledge in volumetric and panelised systems, in both steel and timber frame, Stephen has been personally involved in the delivery more than a thousand MMC schemes in the UK and overseas. These  cover all market sectors but with particular experience in Education, Healthcare, Retail and both single unit and multi occupancy residential projects.

Stephen now leads AtkinsRéalis PPS consultancy offers in Modern Methods of Construction and Industrialised Construction, providing client advisory on all aspects of this sector. This covers both strategic and project level engagements, from concept through all aspects of project delivery and post occupancy, working with UK and International, UK Government and Private Organisations.