UKSAR2G team shortlisted for Government Project Delivery Awards

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency team responsible for securing the new 10-year aviation contract for HM Coastguard has been shortlisted for the Government Project Delivery Awards 2023.

Neil Grant’s UKSAR2G team has been nominated for the Project Delivery Team of the Year Award category of the highly respected and prestigious cross-government programme to recognise and celebrate the inspirational individuals and innovative projects.

The awards ceremony will be held on 15 March 2023 at the Royal Society, Westminster.

Neil Grant, UKSAR2G Programme Director, said: “We could not be prouder to find out that we have been shortlisted for such a prestigious award across government. It really is wonderful recognition for a job very-well done by my team, HM Coastguard colleagues and everyone else who was involved.



“Securing the contract for the next generation of Search and Rescue air assets, for a further decade, has not been a quick task and it was a complex programme with a lot of external scrutiny, so I am delighted to see that the years of work have been rewarded.

“It would, of course, be the icing on the cake to go on and win the award in next year’s ceremony but being shortlisted really is such an honour.”

The award nomination follows the announcement on 21 July 2022 that the contract for providing HM Coastguard aviation would be awarded to Bristow Helicopters Ltd to deliver both rotary and fixed wing services for the next decade.

The new contract means the UK search and rescue region will benefit from both innovation and advances in technology to save more lives, even more quickly. It combines two separate aviation contracts for search and rescue helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft to then also include uncrewed aircraft (drones). This will provide better value for money for the taxpayer and allow for more innovation throughout the life of the contract.

It is an opportunity to build a future coastguard aviation capability that can keep pace with the growing demands on coastguard aviation services.

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