As part of our National Careers Week insights – we’re featuring Josh. He commenced his Year In Industry placement in July 2024 after completing two years at Loughborough University where he’s studying for a BSc Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying.
However, that wasn’t the first time we met Josh as he spent a week with the Winvic team at Plot 5, SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway in the summer of 2023 undertaking work experience. Read on to learn more about what Josh has learned and his role as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor.
What project(s) have you been working on?
I’ve been working on one project through my placement, apart from going on site visits and doing placements with some different departments. I am currently working on a 450-acre Civils and Infrastructure project, which was in the earthworks stage when I arrived and it still is.
Much of the work is remediation and cut and fill, where materials are being treated and being used to construct the bunds around site and the future plots. When I got here a lot of fencing was being installed, as well as swales, drainage and other underground services. There’s up to 7,000 linear metres of temporary and permanent fencing on the site. Now the balancing ponds are complete and there’s a shift towards the construction of onsite roads and S278 works, such as manhole remediations and a cycleway tie in.
We have quite a big commercial team here and I was lucky to spend lots of time with Adam who is Winvic’s Commercial Manager for the Civils and Infrastructure sector. It was really good to learn from his years of experience in my first couple of months, but day-to-day I now mainly work with the other quantity surveyors, Will, Holly and Freddie. Freddie is in the second year of an Apprenticeship and we’re the same age, so we get on well and are good friends. He’s got a year and a half more on-site experience than me, so he’s made all the mistakes I have and he’s easy for me to relate to. Holly and Will have really helped me progress too. They give me tasks and always check in with me, and I find it really motivating because I want to get things done right, keep improving and impress them.
It’s been great to see a wide variety of projects too, such as the industrial units at SEGRO Logistics Park Northampton, Crown Place, and The Holloway, which are multi-room projects in Birmingham and other civils projects at Newport Pagnell and Panattoni Park Swindon.
How did you discover Winvic, and what made you choose us?
Someone in my family knew someone who worked for Winvic and highly recommended the company, encouraging me to contact them about work experience. During that week I knew it was the environment I wanted to be in for a placement year. So, when we had the careers fair at university, I immediately went to the Winvic stand to get as much information as I could. It was also really good to speak to a couple of people who were in the middle of their Year In Industry placements and I knew one, James, through mutual friends. He was then kind enough to message me afterwards, so I asked even more questions, and he happily answered them all. Winvic was the only company who asked me to interview in person and they wanted to get to know me.
What responsibilities have you had in the last seven months?
My responsibilities change day-to-day, but my month-by-month routine generally follows the same format. One of my responsibilities is updating the liabilities document which then feeds into the forecast each month for all the subcontractors and consultants we have on site. I’m also responsible for any works instructions that need to be undertaken, ensuring that they are sent out to subcontractors on time. Other day-to-day tasks include assessing compensation events and keeping on top of the site timesheet tracker.
I go out on site to assess works occasionally, but we’ve got quite a big team so if I’m outside it’s more when I want to gain knowledge. For example, I didn’t know what Erosaweb was, so I asked to shadow someone. I find it’s always much easier when you can see something, and someone explains why it’s used or what the process is. If you’re curious, Erosaweb is a soil retention system for the reinforcement of weak soils on steep slopes.
I’ve learned a lot about construction in this way, but I’ve also become very proficient with Microsoft Excel formulas and pivot tables. I learnt how to use Asta planning software on my planning placement and I feel confident to undertake presentations. I’ve done two presentations about quantity surveying to T Level students, one to our whole site team about the project’s progress and one about what I’ve learned during my first six months here, which was to some of the directors. To be able to do that I know my confidence has grown so much.
What has been your best day on site so far?
Being on site the whole time during a week-long placement with the engineering team was really great to see how things work and gave me a lot of knowledge. But I remember clearly when I completed the whole payment notice process on my own, that gave me huge satisfaction. Also calling subcontractors was another achievement. Approaching experienced professionals and telling them how much they’re going to be paid was really nerve wracking, but my confidence has kept increasing with knowledge and experience. Picking up the phone to people isn’t a big deal now and a personal goal is to continue building relationships with everyone.
What is it like being part of the Winvic team?
It’s so good. I think I’ve learned something new every day, and every morning I look forward to going to work. In the office, there’s a good bunch of us and it’s just really enjoyable. I can go over to the engineers or planners or the construction managers and ask anything because they’re all supportive. I’ve made good friends too and we’ve played a bit of football and golf out of work.
The overall experience has been more of a challenge than I expected but I think I’ve stepped up. It’s good that you’re thrown into the deep end a little and given responsibility because you learn much faster. The support is there when you need it but it’s a case of get on, have a go and then receive feedback, which pushes you on. I’ve spoken to some friends from university who are on placements in construction and they’re not as getting as involved as much as I am, so I feel really lucky.
The first few weeks I was getting out as much as I could, asking as many questions as I could and then my engineering placement set me up to understand a lot of processes, for example when materials are delivered, and then used. After that, I could look at the forecast or the programme and understand it against payment notices and even understand when a package would need four men or two men to undertake the work. My planning placement was also useful and I’m looking forward to learning from the design and pre-construction placements in the next month or so.
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