Allen Bolton Award

The Allen Bolton Award was established in memory of one of the founding members of the Institute of Water, Allen Bolton.

The Allen Bolton Award

This Award is attributed to Allen Bolton, who spent a lifetime in the service of the water industry and served in every office of the Institute at some point in his long career.

 

Allen retained his keen interest in the Institute of Water well into retirement and attended every Conference and AGM until Nottingham in 2007, when he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Allen died in 2011 and this Award has been established in memory of him and in recognition of all that he did for the industry and the Institute. This award is presented each year at the President’s Dinner by our National Chair to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the Institute of Water and to the professional development of members.

 

Image: (L2R) Catherine Fearon CEnv. CSci., Head of Regulatory Compliance (Water), ESP Utilities Group and Chair, Institute of Water & 2022 Allen Bolton Award Winner, Dr Robin Price CSci., Director of Quality and Environment, Anglian Water

2023 Winner – Scott McCrae

 

At the Institute of Water National President’s Dinner and Awards Evening in Cardiff, Scott McCrae Managing Director, McCrae Training Ltd and Scottish Area Past President was awarded the prestigious Allen Bolton Award.

 

Scott’s career in the water industry began in 1987 when he joined the Local Authority Water Department in Paisley as an multi-discipline operations apprentice.  He completed his 4-year apprenticeship obtaining hands on skills in water networks, wastewater networks, water treatment and wastewater treatment whilst achieving City and Guilds Water Industry Qualifications.

 

Suited to operational roles Scott continued his career within the Water Department for a further 18 years through the transitions from the local water department, West of Scotland Water, and then Scottish Water.  During this time his job roles included treatment operative, water main layer, network inspector, leakage inspector, water mains rehabilitation clerk of works, customer advisor, learning and development advisor, compensation and benefits advisor, duty controller, wastewater networks team leader to name but a few.

 

Completing an HNC in Water Operations with Management followed by 7 years of evening classes he graduated from the University of Paisley obtaining his BSc degree in Business Management and Law followed by moving from Scottish Water to Engineering Consultancy with MWH (now Stantec) as a Principal Engineer.

 

Heading up the wastewater engineering team at MWH he managed the delivery of Drainage Area Studies for water companies across the UK before moving on to head up the Business Management Solutions team.  Traveling from India to Brussels and Orlando Florida his time with MWH created a fantastic opportunity to experience the Water Industry on a truly global scale.

 

Following many years with MWH Scott then moved on to work as the General Manager with a specialist drainage contractor responsible for the sewer cleaning, cctv surveying, and highly technical deep entry contracts. This helped consolidate his skills and experience in Public, Private, and Consultancy organisations within the UK and International water sector.

 

Scott then moved on from his role with the drainage contractor where he set up McCrae Training utilising his skills, experience and expertise to train and develop staff across the water and utility sectors with a primary focus on developing people and sustaining skills.  Now one of the UK’s leading high-quality Water and Utility Sector training providers.

 

Concurrently with his career journey, Scott has been an active member of the Institute of Water since first joining in 1990 aged only 19.

Serving on the Scottish Area Committee for many, many years as Area Secretary, Vice President, Area President and currently Past President, along with supporting HQ and serving on the Engineering Board, he has been an active member organising more events than he can remember, personal mentor to new members and served on the professional review panel for Engineering Council, Scott really has the Institute running at the core of his approach.

 

Upon receiving the Award, Scott said:

 

“I feel incredibly privileged and honoured to be awarded the Allen Bolton Award, and to have met Allen in person at many previous Annual Conferences fills me with great pride and a sense of absolute humility.  The people who are members of the Institute make it a truly special water industry family, where we support each other through our respective career journeys.  Like many of the long-standing members of the Institute of Water, I have so many great friends who just want to do the very best for the water industry and the Institute every single day.  To receive this very prestigious award was simply the pinnacle of my career being recognised at this level, and to share this accolade with former winners from Lynn Cooper, and Barrie Light to Ian Limb and Tim Boldero is quite simply staggering, thank you”.

 

 

Previous Winners

 

2022 – Dr Robin Price CSci, Anglian Water

2021 – Phill Mills, Policy Consulting Network Ltd

2020 – Jo Parker, Institute of Water

2019 – Peter Simpson, Anglian Water

2018 – Ian Limb, Portsmouth Water

2017 – Kathy Auld, Scottish Water

2016 – Michael Fowle, Past Vice President Engineering

2015 – Lynn Cooper, Institute of Water

2014 – Barrie Light, Bournemouth Water

2013 – George Irvine, Northern Ireland Area

2012 – Tim Boldero, Past Vice President Environment

2011 – Fiona Jehu, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water

Congratulations to Scott McCrae, pictured below, our 2023 Allen Bolton Award Winner.