Condor at the BQF UK Excellence Awards 2026

Last Thursday the Condor team attended the BQF UK Excellence Awards 2026 at Wembley Stadium, where we were proud to sponsor the award for Excellence in Project Management. It absolutely lived up to expectations.

Representing Condor on the night were Graham Shorten, our Founder and CEO, who also sat on the judging panel for our category; Ed Boyns, our Managing Partner; Dmytro Ason, Transformation Director; and Ashrina Parmar, one of our change management leaders.

Graham, Ed, Dmytro and Ashrina before the reception.

The BQF UK Excellence Awards

The British Quality Foundation has been recognising excellent work in British business since 1994. This year 127 finalists made it to Wembley. HRH The Princess Royal, BQF's Patron, hosted a drinks reception before dinner and opened the evening.

Wembley Stadium, 8 October 2026.

The room at Wembley before the awards began.

The reception was a reminder of how international the event has become. Ashrina found herself standing next to Holy Andriamanamihaja and Fatoumata Saoulou Mbaye from the Helios Towers team, who had travelled from Madagascar and Senegal. When someone asked Ashrina where she had travelled from, Watford did not feel like quite as impressive an answer.

Why we sponsored this award

Condor exists to get critical programmes delivered. An award for projects delivered on time, on budget and to the standard promised is as close to what we do as it gets, and we were delighted to put our name to it.

Our table at the sponsors' reception.

Six organisations made the shortlist, from six different sectors.

• Biffa rebuilt its customer retention process and improved every KPI it tracked.

• Currys opened four in-store Retail Outbases in six to eight weeks, work that normally takes six to nine months.

• Deecon Consulting worked with SGN to change how it buys gas mains replacement work.

• Dubai Police moved the upkeep of 162 facilities onto a data-led system that plans maintenance in advance.

• Helios Towers built 101 telecoms sites across Madagascar in 2025.

• Tesco simplified how it works with around 2,500 suppliers.

Congratulations to Helios Towers

Condor Group on the big screen as sponsor of Excellence in Project Management.

The award went to Helios Towers, and Graham presented it on stage. Working with Airtel Africa, the team delivered 101 telecommunications sites across Madagascar in challenging and remote locations, completing the programme around 30% under budget and ahead of schedule, while maintaining strong safety and quality standards.

The Helios Towers team collecting the Excellence in Project Management award.

"It was a proud moment for Condor to be involved in such a great event," said Graham. "A very deserving winner. A fantastic example of project management excellence delivering tangible results in a complex environment."

A surprise for Ed

The evening ended with a recognition none of us had seen coming. BQF named Ed one of its 2026 Excellenteers, an award for the significant contribution an individual makes to BQF, day in and day out, inside and outside their own organisation. Ed has a long history with BQF. It is where he completed his Lean certifications years ago, and he has described it as an organisation close to his heart.

Ed Boyns on stage with BQF's new Excellenteers.

"I was surprised and delighted to be recognised as an Excellenteer," said Ed. "It was a really special evening for us to be there as sponsors, made all the more memorable by the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. It was so inspiring to see BQF values in action as members drive improvement across so many industries. The BQF remains a vital, positive force for good in British business, and I'm proud that Condor Group was able to step up to support the next generation of leaders."

The start of something

It was a brilliant night: a great way to meet new people in the industry, catch up with friendly faces and, most of all, see so many people recognised for skills that are often undervalued. It really felt like the start of an event Condor will support for a long time.

Graham, Ashrina, Ed and Dmytro with Ed's Excellenteer trophy.

Thank you to Karen Leftley and the whole BQF team for a brilliant evening, and congratulations to Helios Towers and to all of the finalists and winners.

How Condor helps

We help CEOs and investors get critical programmes delivered, including the ones that have stalled. Our past work includes £150m of cost savings and £18m of in-year EBITDA impact for a UK telecoms client.

If you have a programme that needs to land, we'd love to talk. Get in touch

When Execution Matters, We Deliver.