Bronwyn Spence Shortlisted as a Finalist for Rising Star of the Year Award

We are proud to announce Assistant Project Manager, Bronwyn Spence, as a shortlisted finalist for the Utility Week Rising Star of the Year Award 2023.

The Rising Star of the Year Award for the non-utility category celebrates the achievements of emerging talent within the sector who have demonstrated their successes and personal development during their early career.

Bronwyn achieved a First-Class in MSc Applied Chemistry & Chemical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, where she first started to develop her leadership skills by chairing a working group tasked with designing a plant manufacturing acetic acid.

After graduating, Bronwyn joined RSE in 2021 as a Graduate Chemical Engineer in the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) team and quickly excelled on the RSE Graduate Programme, realising her potential and strong passion to lead and drive success within her team. Whilst undertaking the Graduate Programme, Bronwyn was chosen to be a Graduate Representative and has now progressed into mentoring the new cohort of RSE Graduate Engineers who are starting their career in the water industry.

Following completion of the Graduate Programme, Bronwyn was successful in being appointed the position of Assistant Project Manager, becoming the first person within RSE to take on the newly formed Assistant Project Manager role. Since starting the position, Bronwyn has successfully managed and delivered numerous projects within key project milestones, simultaneously forging key relationships with clients which has resulted in a continued workstream for the O&M team.

Due to her outstanding efforts, Bronwyn was selected from over 150 employees to become part of the newly created Extended Leadership Team for the O&M department, which meets every month with the Senior Management to discuss team improvements and efficiencies. Bronwyn has been at the forefront of implementing a number of these improvements, including a training matrix for apprentices, delivering Lunch & Learn sessions, creating an on-boarding presentation for new O&M staff, and creating project job cards to identify future workloads.

Bronwyn is currently managing a £2 million portfolio of maintenance and capital projects whilst building on her leadership capabilities and expanding her own team. With RSE’s core value of promoting Servant Leadership, this allows Bronwyn to push the boundaries and unlock further potential with the opportunities provided to her.

Over the last two years, Bronwyn has successfully managed and delivered the following projects, resulting in several key achievements:

• Montrose WWTW Blower Replacement: The client’s project scope started as a small value maintenance job, replacing the flooring of a single air blower. The development of the project under Bronwyn’s supervision ended as a six-figure project replacing the four blowers on site which were highlighted as being well past their designed life expectancy.
• Pitmedden WWTW Aerator Replacement: The project was delivered in conjunction with a Storm Tank refurbishment, resulting in the project costing £30k under budget and delivered 8 weeks ahead of programme. Bronwyn’s involvement in the project resulted in time and cost savings which were passed on to the client.
• Brechin WWTW Primary Settlement Tank Refurbishment: Bronwyn gained experience on a large NEC4 contract project, delivering the project ahead of programme with all site work being completed in September 2023, ahead of the scheduled project acceptance date of April 2024.

“Bronwyn goes above and beyond to make sure that every small detail of a project has been covered before the start on site date. She constantly makes herself available for out of hours working to assist with any emergency jobs that RSE is asked to attend by the client.
Her organisational skills are key to the successful delivery of projects within the O&M team, and her knowledge of what is going on elsewhere in the business helps to drive efficiencies in these projects. Bronwyn has received numerous positive feedback comments from both the client and sub-contractors on her organisational skills and product knowledge”

John Pocock, Operations Leader

RSE is delighted that Bronwyn’s achievements and development within the O&M team have been recognised by being shortlisted for the Rising Star of the Year Award and the team wishes her the best of luck for the awards night being hosted by Utility Week in London on the 5^th of December.