Find out how we put our award writing skills to use to earn Aston Group a spot on the shortlist for two major awards.
Aston Group, a building services company, is no stranger to ambitious retrofit projects. However, Southfield Court was a particularly challenging case. Not only did it involve strict deadlines for funding and the cooperation of multiple collaborators, but it also needed careful management to protect the property’s vulnerable residents.
Their incredible success at retrofitting this property therefore deserved to be acknowledged and celebrated. As a result, Aston Group got in touch with our knowledgeable team to help craft attention-grabbing entries for the 2024 Unlock Net Zero Awards.
The background
Aston Group is a building services and facilities management company based in Romford, Essex. In 2023, they were tasked by the London Borough of Waltham Forest with bringing an ageing social housing property up to modern standards for thermal comfort and energy efficiency.
This required extensive work, including the fitting of new external insulation and windows, the installation of air source heat pumps and solar panels, and the implementation of new fire safety measures. This work all needed to be done while the property’s vulnerable residents remained in situ. It also needed to be carried out within the strict timescales set out by various funding streams.
The project was a huge success. Upon its completion, the average Environmental Performance Certificate (EPC) was raised to a minimum of a C rating, residents reported feeling warmer, and the property was fully removed from the gas grid.
Because of the scale of this task and Aston Group’s substantial achievements in completing it, they wanted to showcase their accomplishment with an award. Not only would this highlight their own expertise, but they hoped it would also inspire other councils and property owners to make the leap to retrofit their own housing stock.
The challenge
In this case, Aston Group and their chief collaborator, the London Borough of Waltham Forest, already knew which awards they wanted to target: the Unlock Net Zero Awards. In particular, they wished to enter the Green Homes Upgrade Award and Collaboration of the Year Award – Retrofit Projects categories to showcase both the exceptional work they carried out and their close collaboration with key partners.
To ensure that their entries stood out, the key challenge was getting to grips with the intricacies of the project. Understanding who was involved, what work was carried out and how funding requirements were met was absolutely crucial. This would enable us to create a powerful narrative that demonstrated the difficulties and pressures of the project, as well as how they were overcome.
This narrative would then need to be closely aligned with the particular criteria for each award. This meant that each entry would need to be carefully structured and tailored. A ‘one size fits all’ approach will never get judges to sit up and take notice.
The final challenge was then to condense this narrative so that it fitted within the strict word counts for both entries.
The solution
To get the insight we needed to create impactful awards entries, we kicked off by interviewing Julie Dunn, Strategic Communication Manager at Aston Group. From this interview, we gained an overview of the whole project, including its challenges, innovations and the key parties involved. To strengthen the narrative, we also requested testimonials and facts from key personnel involved in the project.
Julie also supplied us with a wealth of documentation relating to the various stages of the project. We read these in detail, pulling together the key facts and figures that would enable us to weave a compelling story. Some of this documentation was complex, such as interim EPC reports and air test reports. We therefore used our expertise in technical writing to uncover the information we needed.
Once we had the right facts, we created a structure for the award entries. This allowed us to map out what needed to be included and how the information could be presented so that it fitted within the word counts.
Using this structure, we employed our knowledge of brand storytelling to write the award entries. These entries seamlessly wove facts, figures, challenges and testimonials together to create a convincing argument for why Aston Group should win. These entries were then carefully proofread before we liaised with Aston Group to ensure that we had covered all the essential points.
The results
Once our work was completed, Aston Group was able to submit two strong award entries that comprehensively met the individual award criteria, including the word count.
As a result of our work, Aston Group was announced as a finalist for both awards. This is an exceptional achievement and a testament to both their retrofitting work and our award writing services.
Aston Group was thrilled with this result, which helps to showcase their knowledge and expertise in retrofitting
Looking for award writing services?
If you’d like to add to your business’ trophy cabinet, get in touch with us! Together, we can craft an award entry that will get you noticed. Drop us a line at hello@methodmarketing.org today.