Balfour Beatty’s Aberdeen-based construction managing director swapped jobs with an apprentice of the construction and engineering firm this week to demonstrate the importance of embracing new and emerging talent within the industry.
Apprentice joiner Matthew Jolly, 19, from Aberdeen, was given the opportunity to chair a meeting in the company’s boardroom at Granitehill Road, where the company’s senior managers pitched potential new project opportunities to him.
On the same day, George Hood, Balfour Beatty Managing Director Northern Scotland, kitted out in overalls and safety gear, got some real hands on experience of the type of joinery work Mr Jolly carries out each day.
Mr Jolly, an apprentice joiner at Aberdeen airport, said:
“Chairing the meeting in the board room was a fantastic experience. It gave me a taster of a real situation that our managing director regularly deals with.”
Mr Hood said:
“It was a great experience all round. Balfour Beatty has a proven track record of nurturing talent at all levels of the business, with many of today’s senior managers having started their careers with us as apprentices.”
The company is a member of ‘The 5% Club’, an industry-led initiative focused on ensuring that within five years at least 5% of its workforce will be graduates or engaged in a formalised apprenticeship or sponsored education.
Approximately 30% of Balfour Beatty’s more than 200 apprentices are based in Scotland.