Wynne Construction wins Wales STEM Award for Maths in the Workplace schools programme

Wynne Construction has won Educational Programme of the Year (Private Sector) at the Wales STEM Awards 2026 for its Maths in the Workplace sessions, which put secondary pupils in the role of quantity surveyors on the contractor's live projects.

The firm was also highly commended in the STEM Collaboration of the Year category for its partnership with Careers Wales. The organiser's winners list shows that category went to STEM Untapped CIC, with The Big Science Project highly commended behind Wynne in the private sector educational programme category.

Wynne said it delivered more than 150 hours of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activity to 2,766 pupils in 22 secondary schools across Wales during the 2025/26 academic year. The activities included workshops, site visits, mock interviews, careers events and work experience placements.

Natasha Pryce, social value lead at Wynne Construction, said: "We could not create the same impact alone, and that partnership enables us to reach more young people and give them practical experiences which build on what they are already learning in school."

The programme

Maths in the Workplace was devised and developed with Careers Wales, according to Wynne. Each session uses drawings from live Wynne projects near the participating school, and pupils measure rooms, calculate areas, price materials and apply percentage discounts as a quantity surveyor would.

The workshops are run by Wynne's social value team alongside its degree apprentice quantity surveyors and project managers, so pupils meet people at different stages of a construction career.

Pryce said the firm's teams were passionate about helping young people understand the opportunities in construction, and that engagement had to start while pupils were still choosing subjects, to challenge perceptions of the industry and show the range of roles available.

As part of the submission, Pryce and Kayleigh Brummel, business engagement adviser at Careers Wales, gave a 15-minute presentation to the judging panel.

The ceremony

The winners were announced on 1 October at Techniquest in Cardiff. Wynne social value manager Craig Sweet and Anwen Phillips, business engagement adviser at Careers Wales, attended on behalf of the partnership.

Phillips said: "Experiences like these help young people connect classroom learning with the world of work, broaden their understanding of the opportunities available and make more informed decisions about their future."

The Wales STEM Awards are a Wales-wide scheme run by Grapevine Event Management. Wynne said the awards are in their sixth year. According to the Welsh Government's Business Wales site, entries for 2026 closed on 7 August.

Background

The award adds to earlier recognition from Careers Wales. Wynne received a Gold award at the Careers Wales Valued Partner Awards in 2019 and won Most Innovative Support for Schools at the 2021 Valued Partner Awards, when its schools work included mock interview sessions, virtual workshops and a bricklaying video produced during pandemic restrictions.

Wynne's social value pages say its Engagement Hub aims to deliver activities that educate, support and inspire school pupils, and that the firm offers work experience placements of at least five days, particularly in the trades.

The contractor is marking its centenary in 2026. It traces its origins to Charles Wynne starting C Wynne Builder & Contractor in 1926, and the business was incorporated as C Wynne & Sons Ltd in 1959. Companies House lists C.Wynne & Sons Limited at Charles House, Kinmel Park, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, with its activity recorded as construction of commercial buildings.

Originally a North Wales firm, Wynne has since extended its operations into South and Mid Wales.