It’s time to meet the second of our Year In Industry (YII) students who started their placements with Winvic in July 2023. At the end of last year, we heard from Lily, a Trainee Site Engineer and today we’re introducing you to Jack who is at Loughborough University studying Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management.
He explains how some tasks were daunting at first – such as picking up the phone to obtain quotes from subcontractors – but with the support of the Winvic team, after six months he’s gained much more confidence. Jack was even responsible for leading a surveying activity with college students who were visiting the Redditch Gateway site recently. Read on to hear more about his Commercial Placement experience with Winvic so far.
What projects have you been working on?
My main project involvement so far has been at Redditch Gateway, and following the completion of this project, I will be moving to a second site early in the New Year. Redditch Gateway is an industrial project consisting of two units totalling over 447,000 sq ft, with a shell and core only fit out. 
I’ve also visited one of our previous projects, the fit out of two 1 million sq ft Jaguar Land Rover industrial facilities at Mercia Park, where I spent two weeks helping with the snagging and aftercare process.
How did you come across Winvic and what made you choose us?
I first came across Winvic at the Symmetry Park industrial project in Rugby, as this is local to where I live so I would often drive past it. After doing some initial research on the Winvic website and watching previous years placement videos, I approached Winvic at the Loughborough University careers fair where I spoke with one of the previous placement students about their time and experience at Winvic. The placement year sounded like a very interesting opportunity, and I was offered an interview after sending in my CV and cover letter. The interview was relaxed, and I felt I was able to be myself without the pressure of a normal interview.
What responsibilities have you had in the last 5 months?
Since starting my placement year at Winvic I have had a range of responsibilities, for example raising payment notices and issuing site instructions. A payment notice is a document used to assess the value of work done by a subcontractor and authorise the payment due, whereas a site instruction is used to instruct a variation from a subcontractor’s original package. One of my favourite aspects of the role is the mix between office and site-based work. Some of the on-site tasks I’ve been involved with are assessing applications for payments and producing marked up drawings for different aspects of the job such as cladding and the Eco crib retaining walls.
I’ve also had the opportunity to complete mini placements in the engineering and design departments. I enjoyed experiencing the different aspects of the industry outside quantity surveying and seeing how different departments work relates to one another.
What has been your best day on site so far?
I’d be hard pressed to pick just one as there have been lots of good days, but if I had to choose then my best day on site was when I was involved in procuring the road sweeper package. This entailed obtaining quotes from different subcontractors and seeing if I could negotiate a betterment on the rates. It was quite daunting at first, especially having to call people and I’d only been here a few weeks, but it was good to be given this responsibility and I certainly feel a lot more confident picking up the phone now. Whilst this was a relatively small package, this has given me the basis to move onto larger, more complex works.
We also had a group of college students on site with us recently and I took part in leading a surveying activity calculating the cost to paint the ground floor of a building. I enjoyed it more than I expected and now I’m working with the Winvic social value team to adapt the activity to suit different age groups, it feels good to be able to give back and possibly inspire the next generation.
I also went to Sheffield Hallam’s careers fair to talk to students about Winvic and my experience so far on my year in industry. It was nice to speak to so many enthusiastic students, but it felt strange as it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago when I was in their shoes.
What’s it like being part of the Winvic team?
It’s really enjoyable and the whole team is supportive. At times I’ve been thrown in at the deep end, but with the support of the team I’ve found that’s how I learn best. Although I’m part of the commercial team, the whole team are available if I need help with anything and if they think something is valuable for me to see, then they make sure to mention it. I enjoy coming to work every day, there’s always a good atmosphere on site and it’s a great environment to work in.
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