MWA Projects founder Matt Watts, nominated without his knowledge, won Outstanding Achievement at the Thames Valley Property Awards 2026 on 24 September.

Matt Watts, who founded the Henley-on-Thames company MWA Projects nearly 25 years ago, has won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Thames Valley Property Awards 2026. The awards were presented on the evening of Thursday 24 September at Easthampstead Park.

He did not know he was in the running. “I was actually nominated for the award without knowing,” he told The Henley Post, the day after the ceremony.

MWA Projects started in 2002. Its head office is still in Henley, it employs around 40 people, and it takes on commercial design, fit-out, construction and facilities management work across the Thames Valley and London.

A large screen reading Outstanding Achievement Award, Winner, with a photograph of Matt Watts and his name, above a stage where a man in a dinner jacket is being congratulated, with the audience in silhouette in the foreground
Matt Watts on stage as he is announced the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award, with his name and photograph on the screen. Photo: supplied by MWA Projects

What the judges said

The awards are run by The Business Magazine. In announcing this one, the judges said they were impressed by Watts’s “commitment to putting people first, while driving MWA’s Thames Valley growth and delivering community benefit.”

They added: “As his recently published autobiography reflects, he leads with exceptional resilience, openness and ambition.”

That last line is the one he picked out. “The judges referenced ‘resilience, openness and ambition’, three words that also sit at the heart of my book, Made with Ambition, which made the award feel even more personal,” he wrote on LinkedIn the next morning.

Nearly 25 years, and not all of them easy

Made with Ambition is Watts’s autobiography, the story of his own life and of building MWA, including the harder stretches. It was launched at Henley Town Hall last December, with more than 200 people there, so, as he puts it, “it was particularly special to receive this recognition less than a year later.”

He is candid that the business has not been a straight line. “I’ve been building MWA Projects for nearly 25 years and, like any business journey, there have been some incredible highs and some pretty difficult moments along the way,” he wrote.

“So to receive an award recognising not just what we’ve achieved as a business, but the importance of putting people first, supporting our community and continuing to grow across the Thames Valley, means a huge amount to me.”

The evening in 14 seconds: the Thames Valley Property Awards 2026 sign, the Outstanding Achievement Award announcement, the winners on stage and the MWA logo. Video: supplied by MWA Projects

The people behind it

Watts is quick to share the credit. “None of it happens on your own however. I’m incredibly proud of everyone at MWA Projects, past and present, who has been part of the journey,” he wrote. “And having my family there to share the moment made the night even more special.”

He thanked The Business Magazine’s judges “and everyone who has supported me and MWA along the way.”

Insider Media has published the full list of winners from the 12th annual awards, and an official photograph of Watts collecting the award.

What it means for you

  • MWA Projects is a Henley business: its registered office is at Kingfisher House, 45 Market Place, Henley-on-Thames RG9 2AA, and it also has a London office on Pall Mall.
  • It works on commercial premises: design, fit-out, construction and ongoing facilities management, across the Thames Valley and London. Details are on mwaprojects.com, or call the Henley office on 01491 577120.

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