Hot stuff... team answers DIY SOS

Donated materials and a lot of hard graft from an 11-strong talent team have made a big difference to a young people’s charity. We find out more from some of the potential senior leaders who rolled up their sleeves as part of their development programme…

If you have ever put flat-packed furniture together, then you will know the challenge faced by the talent team – only their assembly project was much bigger and had no instructions.

They were installing a 3.5-metre-tall garden kitchen area for charity Jamie’s Farm, which helps disadvantaged youngsters, as part of the future-leader development programme.

Pete Jones said they only had a photo of the oak structure to go on. “We are not into DIY, but were determined to get it done so there was a lot of trial and error,” said the senior finance manager. “We really worked well together over the week to achieve it.” While the all-weather shelter was the main focus, the project – the final stage of 2016’s Talent programme – was extended to include other improvements to the site in  Rowlestone, Herefordshire.

“There were 120 tonnes of asphalt and a surfacing gang to lay it on their access lane, along with 200 tonnes of aggregate and 70 cubic metres of concrete for hardstanding areas, and also PPE clothing and footwear,” said Pete.

Jamie’s Farm is one of three charities being supported by the talent team.

The group has also provided improved parking, drainage and wheelchair access at Wyville village hall in Lincolnshire, which is used by the Grantham Additional Needs Fellowship’s Forest School to teach young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties, and is working with the Construction Youth Trust to attract more young people into the industry.

The talent team is: senior tax and treasury manager Ian Cotterrell, senior category manager James Fraser-Mitchell, senior finance manager Pete Jones, SSC culture and change manager Vicky Lemon, business development manager Lorenz Koch, HR business partner Becky Murphy, concrete commercial manager Chris O’Shea, aggregates operations manager Julian Radcliffe, contracting regional quantity surveyor Ed Roberts, senior finance manager Julie Sugden and geological services manager Matthew Uttley.