THE building firm behind three new primary schools in York has won a prestigious national award for its work.

Sewell has won a Considerate Constructors Scheme's National Award for its recently completed £20 million York Schools Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract.

The three schools, St Oswald's CE Primary School, Fulford, St Barnabas CE Primary School, central York and the innovative Hob Moor Children's Centre in Acomb were designed and constructed with the Sewell Group as the PFI Private Sector partner of The City of York Council.

Each of the three York school sites was inspected and scored, placing Sewell's York project in the top five per cent of all schemes in the country.

The awards are designed to recognise and reward construction companies who have demonstrated exceptional levels of consideration and scored highly against the Scheme's Code of Considerate Practice.

Martin Standley, Sewell projects manager, was very proud to accept the award on behalf of the on-site delivery team.

"We always take pride in our approach to work closely with the client, the community and the workforce to deliver a project everybody will be proud of," he said.

The scheme's inspectors are rigorous in their assessments. They score social and environmental awareness and consideration for nearby neighbours, the general public and the workforce. The site should be a clean, working area and when the work is complete, there should be minimal impact on the environment and a positive impression of the company should remain when they leave the local area. The inspector also examines how any complaints are handled by those on-site.

Work began in January, 2004 to replace both Hob Moor and Hob Moor Oaks schools, along with St Oswald's, in Fulford, and St Barnabas, in the Leeman Road area, under a PFI scheme.

Split across three separate sites, the schools cater for 1,100 youngsters and support local communities.

All three schools have been built and run by the Hull-based Sewell Group, which has signed a 30-year PFI partnership deal with City of York Council and the Co-operative Bank to deliver, manage and maintain the schools.

This is the second consecutive annual Considerate Constructors award for Sewell; in 2006 they were recognised with the same honour for their £15m Preston Road Village Centre Development in Hull.