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Grosvenor House Hotel came alive with excitement and tension on 24 June as the two main events of the month combined. When the England v Portugal Euro 2004 quarter-final coincided with the ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ Services Award 2004, there was only one choice: show the match live on big screens and treat the 1200-strong audience to a night of sporting action.

The adrenalin was pumping as the match reached its penalty finale and the crowd willed England to win. The result was not as the audience hoped but host Rory Bremner brought smiles back to faces with his unique mix of humour and impressions and the disappointment of England’s defeat was soon overshadowed by the announcement of the event’s awards winners.

There were 18 categories this year, three appearing for the first time. In the m&e contractor section Southern Electric Contracting took the plaudits for the major award, while Briggs & Forrester Group won the award for the smaller m&e firms. The much applauded apprentice of the year category was this year won by Rebecca Ritsema, a JTL apprentice employed by Coulson & Son. A new category for future industry stars was the young engineer of the year award, which was won by Neil Sutherland of Buro Happold.

The sports theme continued after the awards ceremony, with guests enjoying Scalectrix racing, golf putting and the charity casino. If you watched the football elsewhere, make sure you don’t miss out next summer by joining the 2005 event.