Construction Professional has had six nominations this year. Below you will find the information for each person.
Luke Taylor
Luke joined Poole Dick 6 months after completing his A levels after a brief career in stripping out retail units. We had worked with his grandfather who asked if we were looking for anyone to join as a trainee.
At the time we were not, but offered him an interview and instantly knew he was for us, so created a role to employ him.
2# Provide information which will help the judges understand the challenges, problems, and scope of the nominee’s area of activity.
Luke joined Pole Dick and was initially given & typical trainee jobs such as comp checking. We soon realised by the questions being asked Luke was picking up the role very quickly.
Luke then graduated to shadowing surveyors and then being given his own schemes to oversee day to day under a Chartered Surveyor.
Luke has progressed to managing larger schemes with very little input from others.
3# Describe the nominee’s exceptional achievements or contributions in his/her chosen field.
Passed years 1-3 at university with flying colours.
We usually wait until a trainee has graduated before getting another, but as Luke is so advanced, we have been able to employ another trainee and Luke is assisting her in training by the new trainee shadowing him.
He is a great team player who always puts Poole dick first.
4# List public statements for employers, college lecturers, external bodies/authorities, and awards that affirm the nominee’s achievements and contributions.
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
Luke is always professional, efficient, and supportive to the Asset and Technical finance team. He understands our work and requirements and is quick to respond and adapt to timescales and demand. He is always on hand to offer advice and works closely with the Asset and Finance team and our various partners to achieve our required outcomes.
I asked the team for a few words to describe Luke and here are a few professional, thorough, helpful, great communicator, mediator, great listener, provides guidance, part of the team.
Emma Ashton
Programme Delivery Manager
E: emma.ashton@rbh.org.uk
I’ve since had more feedback from colleagues, I’ve also included them below :
“I have found Luke to be really professional in his work, and helpful, down to earth, open and approachable in his attitude. He does seem wise beyond his years, and you can tell he is focussed on developing himself in his career. He has a talent for putting across and presenting the technical information in a clear concise way, and I think this is noted by a number of colleagues and peers.”
“With Luke nothing is too much trouble for him and is always positive even when we ask him for something that may be complicated, finding solutions rather than being negative. Without sounding patronising, he is mature beyond his years and takes the lead. He always takes responsibility and never passes the buck. In short, he is a thoroughly decent bloke.”
Community Gateway
Luke assisted Community Gateway to successfully deliver two affordable housing contracts, to a high standard, ahead of programme and on budget with a combined contract value in excess of £18m. Through clear communication Luke quickly developed trust within the team and good working relationships with various stakeholders. As a result we have successfully appointed Poole Dick on a further two developments worth over £24m and we continue to work closely with Luke to deliver much needed, new, affordable homes to the people of Preston and surrounding boroughs.
Stephen Galbraith, Development Manager.
5# Summarise why the nominator believes the nominee should be selected as a CDA Award Winner within this space.
We have not come across another young professional like Luke.
On first meeting Luke you immediately warm to him allowing trusted relationships to develop quickly.
He has amazing drive and ambition to learn making him exceptional in his day-to-day work and in his studies; whilst also assisting in training another young professional.
He is a conscientious worker and will do what it takes to meet client demands.
Abigail Brierley
1# Outline the career or training of the nominee, including the background of the nominee’s work, field, or activity.
Abi has undertaken a BEng in Civil Engineering, achieving a first class honours and during her time at university also undertook an experience placement in California, working with a US based construction company. Abi sought out this placement and secured and delivered it, all on her own initiative.
After completing her degree she then applied for and was successful in securing a place on the Laing O’Rourke Graduate Development programme, commencing her employment as an Assistant Construction Manager, working on the LD11 Data Centre project in Slough.
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Abi has a B(Eng) degree in Civil Engineering. She spent a year in California working for a heavy civils contractor building an airport runway. Currently working for Laing O’Rourke as an Assistant Construction Manager, formerly on a data centre and now on the Olympia, London. Managing packages, day to day running of site and coordination between trades.
2# Provide information which will help the judges understand the challenges, problems, and scope of the nominee’s area of activity.
Abi joined us at LD11 as a fresh graduate, but very quickly became a pivotal member of the team. She took responsibility for multiple packages, as well as logistics and a significant amount of scope and accountability for H&S leadership also.
The project was hugely challenging and involved exceptionally high levels of change and interference for market factors, all of which she worked through with dedication and diligence. The project was ultimately a huge success and we could not possibly have done it without her!”
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She is passionate that the ‘old fashioned’ way of shouting and screaming to get things accomplished is not necessary. She believes that people work better when they are happy and treated with respect. There is a tricky line between being seen as a pushover and being rude to people. She spends everyday trying to find that line but also trying to help the people she works with find that line. This is also hard as there are people who have been working in the industry far longer who are used to the way things have been done up until now. As an industry, we can and should be doing better.
3# Describe the nominee’s exceptional achievements or contributions in his/her chosen field.
Abi performs at a level well above her age and experience. She is an absolute asset to the business and was completely invaluable to the success of the project. I cannot sing her praises enough.
She is diligent, conscientious, great with people, caring and compassionate, but also technically minded, highly capable and a quick learner. She is a credit to herself and the industry and to women everywhere!
Ultimately LD11 was completed 1month early, within budget and with zero reportable incidents, and this success could not have been achieved without her.
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She is currently writing and presenting a conference paper based on her dissertation studying differences in experience between males and females in construction in the UK and USA. There is a huge push at the minute to get people in general into construction and she hopes that the conclusions made in the paper will make people think about their actions and what they can do. She was New Civil Engineer’s Innovative thinker of the month for April due to her research in this area.
4# List public statements for employers, college lecturers, external bodies/authorities, and awards that affirm the nominee’s achievements and contributions.
I don’t have anything really for here, but the client’s overall feedback to us for the whole team and project was 9/10.
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As above nominated as April’s Innovative Thinker of the month by New Civil Engineer, the magazine of the Institution of Civil Engineer’s.
5# Summarise why the nominator believes the nominee should be selected as a CDA Award Winner within this space.
I mean I think I have covered most of this above, but I have never met someone who is more deserving or more accurately, a representation of being a Young Construction Professional of the Year… she has a bright future ahead of her.
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Having known Abi for several years I believe she truly embodies the direction that the UK Construction Industry needs to travel in order to move away from the old-fashioned male-orientated Industry. She is a true Ambassador for Civil Engineering attending school career days to highlight Civil Engineering to students who may never have considered it as an option.
Nathan Butcher
Nathan joined the business in August 2017 as an apprentice Joiner. Nathan worked on Site installing wooden fixtures, ironmongery, timber frames and foam work. Nathan worked on various sites and was involved in all aspects of joinery. He completed his NVQ Level 2 and then went on to complete his advanced NVQ Level 3 in Joinery.
Upon completion of this Nathan progressed in the business to be promoted to a trainee Site Manager. His role involves working closely with the site manager and teams on site to ensure the project is completed on time and defect free. Nathan is currently working towards achieving his Level 4 in Construction Site Supervisor.
Nathan achieved a Merit in His NVQ Level 3
Nathan achieved Distinctions in all of his units so far for his Level 4 in Construction Site Supervisor.
2# Provide information which will help the judges understand the challenges, problems, and scope of the nominee’s area of activity.
When Nathan progressed in his career to Trainee Site Manager he then had to step up into a management role and manage some of his work colleagues and mentors who he worked along side, whilst maintaining a professional approach.
Throughout Nathans Career he has had to learn to juggle both his work and his studies. Nathan’s new role of trainee site management comes with more responsibility as well as keeping up with his studies.
3# Describe the nominee’s exceptional achievements or contributions in his/her chosen field.
Since Nathan joined the business in 2017 he has shown a strong dedication to both his studies and his role. Nathan was awarded Trade apprentice of the year by Salford College when he was studying towards his Joinery apprenticeship & has recently also won the Professional and Technical Construction Apprentice of the Year award for Salford College.
Nathan is always keen to step up in his role and put himself forward for any extra duties that may be required. In 2022 for National Apprenticeship Week Nathan was interviewed by Talk Radio to discuss apprenticeships and his journey. Nathan has also attended multiple apprenticeship recruitment events with our team to enable him to inspire other people wanting to enter into a career in construction.
4# List public statements for employers, college lecturers, external bodies/authorities, and awards that affirm the nominee’s achievements and contributions.
Nathan Butcher- Statement from Angela Daly: Tutor at Salford College – Jan -23
Nathan’s academic achievements have been very positive, as he has demonstrated excellent academic results throughout his HNC in Construction and the Built Environment course. Nathan absorbs everything that is said without question and uses the information to generate high quality assignments.
The results of this assignments are outstanding, often at a quality far higher than the HNC
He has so far achieved distinctions in all of his units, with two units remaining.
Nathan’s accomplishments are far and wide.
Nathan was originally a joiner and did a level 3 joinery apprenticeship. When I asked him why he had gone down the route of a joiner he very wisely said, that ‘as a joiner you’re on a job from start to finish.’ I remember being shocked at this statement, as Nathan was a young man of 21 at the time and this was something I’ve heard of time and time again by men who have been in construction management aged 50 and over.
Nathan is a very pleasant, quiet but extremely conscientious student, he has a very dry sense of humour and an exceedingly cheeky smile. His rapport with his fellow students is lovely to see and his colleagues are able to go to Nathan and ask if they are unsure of something, whether it be work related or of an academic nature.
Observing Nathan at work, it was quickly noted, that Nathan is confident, self assured, passionate and compassionate, willing to help someone and go out of his way to ensure that the job he is doing is to a very high quality.
Nathan is someone who, if he is going to do something, will make sure he will do it and not only do it but do it to the very best of his ability.
On a personal front due to Nathan wanting to make something of himself he has ensured that work and college are his main priorities.
I have no doubt that Nathan will go far in the world of construction, due to his passion, integrity and determination.
Previous Training Manager Statement – Roy Cavanagh MBE – 2019
Over many years I have had a lot of interaction with apprentices.
Recently in chairing a ‘Champions Group’ of employers, I was very impressed with Nathan Butcher. Unbeknown to us both beforehand, we were involved in a dialogue between the college, employers and apprentices.
Nathan was asked to give his view of his apprenticeship so far, at present he is at NVQ3 and even though he had somebody like myself from Seddon in front of him he acted totally independent. His assessment of how his apprenticeship had run, what he still wanted to achieve in his trade of joinery, and how he saw his longer term future, were far beyond his years. His confidence, articulation, and strength of thought seriously impressed me, and I knew him!
To have that confidence, backed up by his ability and qualifications was outstanding. In my role as chair of the meeting, I congratulated him for himself, his family and his employer on his level.
A very impressive young man who, I feel will go as far as he eventually wants.
5# Summarise why the nominator believes the nominee should be selected as a CDA Award Winner within this space.
Having won both Trade apprentice of the year and Higher Degree Apprentice of the year since joining our business in 2017 we believe that Nathan is the perfect candidate to win this. Testimonies from both his line manager, our previous training manager and the college are exceptional and we believe he is an asset to have in our business.
Nathan is trustworthy, honest and can always be replied upon to represent both the business and apprentices as a whole. He is a high achiever in both his learning and in his role, looked up to and respected by many of his peers and colleagues.
Nathan is conscientious, passionate, hard working and always delivers a high quality standard of workmanship. He works well with his team and is an outstanding role model to any new apprentices in our business and our supply chain.
To have achieved Distinctions in all of his collage units so far, with a glowing report from his manager and tutor shows he is doing an exceptional job of managing work, study and his personal life to achieve amazing results.
Liam Robinson
Liam works for Homesafe group/Ecotect. A fire suppression company in Haslingden that operates across the UK.
He completed his HNC Construction alongside his L4 NVQ Management and supervision (construction). He excelled in all areas of his course and as a result was promoted to Contracts manager in the business
2# Provide information which will help the judges understand the challenges, problems, and scope of the nominee’s area of activity.
Liam completed a HNC BTEC Level 4 in Construction and the Built Environment with Distinction in June 2022. Alongside this he completed a Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction and Building Services Management and Supervision (Sustainability) (Construction and Built Environment).
Since completing both courses, Liam has been promoted to Contracts Manager, and is heavily involved in the development of The Homesafe Group, Building Services Engineering Apprenticeship programme.
His main role is to produce workflow and resource planning for the installation team, working to agreed schedules with client site managers and the procurement and delivery of materials and components. In addition to this he is a project manager for over 10 live jobs.
The role Liam undertakes is key to the whole business; his knowledge of the jobs is exceptional. Not only does he know each job in detail, but he can also design on AutoCAD, he produces monthly metrics, for finance to use for invoicing and completes a comprehensive forecasting report. For the senior management team, he created a system to track the yield per man hour and has specific targets he needs to meet, including 100% on job handover to our clients.
This is just a small part of what Liam does, in addition he is a mentor, auditor, fire marshal, fleet manager and at the core, he is a great team player!
3# Describe the nominee’s exceptional achievements or contributions in his/her chosen field.
Distinctions in all areas of his course with us which led to development within the company to oversee projects from variety of view points.
4# List public statements for employers, college lecturers, external bodies/authorities, and awards that affirm the nominee’s achievements and contributions.
Liam completed a HNC BTEC Level 4 in Construction and the Built Environment with Distinction in June 2022. Alongside this he completed a Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction and Building Services Management and Supervision (Sustainability) (Construction and Built Environment).
Since completing both courses, Liam has been promoted to Contracts Manager, and is heavily involved in the development of The Homesafe Group, Building Services Engineering Apprenticeship programme.
His main role is to produce workflow and resource planning for the installation team, working to agreed schedules with client site managers and the procurement and delivery of materials and components. In addition to this he is a project manager for over 10 live jobs.
The role Liam undertakes is key to the whole business; his knowledge of the jobs is exceptional. Not only does he know each job in detail, but he can also design on AutoCAD, he produces monthly metrics, for finance to use for invoicing and completes a comprehensive forecasting report. For the senior management team, he created a system to track the yield per man hour and has specific targets he needs to meet, including 100% on job handover to our clients.
This is just a small part of what Liam does, in addition he is a mentor, auditor, fire marshal, fleet manager and at the core, he is a great team player!
5# Summarise why the nominator believes the nominee should be selected as a CDA Award Winner within this space.
Apprenticeship mentoring
Huge developmental growth within the company.
Promotion to Contracts manager.
Excelled across the board with the courses at Burnley college.
From the employer- ‘basically he knows the job inside and out, down to every component, piece of material that is needed. He could tell you what is happening on every floor of a high rise apartment building or house we are working on.’
Olivia Houghton
Olivia joined us January 2022 as a Service Administrator.
When Olivia joined us she formed part of a 2 person team who managed the day-to-day running of our service department. This included the scheduling of jobs, dealing with customer queries, ensuring all health and safety information was relayed to the customer and people on site, and invoicing jobs.
Since starting Olivia has achieved two promotions. The company has grown and Olivia was first promoted to Senior Service Admin giving her more responsibility and making her the key point of contact for the service team. Olivia distributed duties to another administrator and oversaw their work.
In January 2023, Olivia was promoted to Office Manager / Head of Service Department. The department has now grown to 4 staff members and Olivia has become a line manager to these staff members. She now oversees the department and is more involved in the people management of her team and the engineers.
2# Provide information which will help the judges understand the challenges, problems, and scope of the nominee’s area of activity.
Olivia joined D.E.S. during a transformational time. We were diversifying from an Electrical Contractor to a Facilities Management Company. Olivia has been integral to the growth of the service department. Olivia has recommended change, new systems, and new efficiencies to the department to ensure smoother running as previous to Olivia joining we were unable to meet demands.
Olivia has been present during difficult times, we had to let multiple staff go due to performance issues and Olivia was able to pick up the problems and help provide solutions. Olivia was a big part of developing her team, holding interviews with HR to select people to join the service team.
Our service department is the busiest and most in-demand department of the company. Olivia is having to deal with customers, suppliers, engineers, sub-contractors on a daily basis. She is also now managing a team of people who are also facing challenges and she is there as a support to them.
3# Describe the nominee’s exceptional achievements or contributions in his/her chosen field.
Olivia is a highly driven and professional person, she always strives to be better and to help others achieve the same. She is a brilliant manager to takes time to listen to her staff members’ problems and help provide solutions. She has an incredible skill to manage her time and prioritise, constantly multi-skilling.
The biggest difference to D.E.S. is the quality of our service, we have received compliments from customers on how we run and this is all down to Olivia. Olivia is now helping us integrate a CRM system which will make a huge difference to the way we work and will enable us to push to our next area of growth.
Olivia is always looking for ways of improving and has recently enrolled in a Level 3 Team Leader course alongside working full time.
4# List public statements for employers, college lecturers, external bodies/authorities, and awards that affirm the nominee’s achievements and contributions.
N/A
5# Summarise why the nominator believes the nominee should be selected as a CDA Award Winner within this space.
Olivia has been with us for just over a year now, and to see the difference and changes she has made to the service department is phenomenal. Olivia is bright and considerate of others. Her ability to keep on top of all of her tasks whilst overseeing others is great to see.
I am really excited to see where Olivia goes with her career. She should be very proud of where she is already.