11 April 2018
VGC's rising star Charlie
Charlie Passingham used to struggle to get out of bed. Now he’s a VGC traffic marshal with a bright future ahead of him. Charlie has Asperger’s and was suffering from suffocating panic attacks until MENCAP helped him with coping strategies. He’d always wanted to be a builder, so after a two-day taster at Barking and
27 March 2018
Successful NVQs for five apprentices
Congratulations to five of our apprentices on their successful NVQ qualifications. Daniel Smith, David Williams Sarpong, Daniel Pang, Arsalan Aleem and Josiah Narkwa recently completed their Level 2 NVQ Diplomas in Railway Engineering. The apprentices signed up with labour manager Nick Wells after he visited them at the College of North East London (CONEL). Before
16 March 2018
Welcome to Lemos, our latest apprentice
Lemos Pereria has started his apprenticeship on the A14. Lemos (on the right in the photo, next to key influencer Rishi Khera) has joined our trail-blazer apprenticeship programme. He started on 16 March as a general operative, and VGC will enrol him on an NVQ in highways maintenance engineering. The A14 IDT (integrated delivery team)
13 March 2018
Pay arrangements for Easter 2018
VGC’s offices will be closed from the evening of Thursday 29 March until 08:30 on Tuesday 3 April. Pay arrangments for Easter: For hours worked during the week between Saturday 17 March and Sunday 25 March: Wages will be processed on Tuesday 27 March. We will credit your account on Thursday 29 March 2018. For
12 March 2018
Crowdfunding helped Joe into work with VGC
Joe is working in his first job since 2003, for VGC Group on the Northern Line extension. For over a decade, Joe was homeless. He slept in hostels and on friends’ sofas – and sometimes on the streets. Until last year when he underwent treatment, Joe also struggled with addictions. In August 2017 he joined Beam,
8 March 2018
Women in VGC network launch
Our Women in VGC network launched on International Women’s Day. The meeting, at Cardinal House, saw an excellent turnout of VGC women, with a number of male supporters. Everyone has a voice In his welcome, MD Laurence Mckidd stated that diversity and ethical behaviour are part of being a fair and reasonable business. Everyone has
5 March 2018
Excellent Inspire Me workshop
Zena writes: Last Thursday I attended the first Inspire Me workshop. VGC is proud to be an official supporter of the campaign. Most of the workshop attendees were women: a refreshing reverse of the normal gender balance at construction events. Everyone had made a tremendous effort to overcome the weather to attend, and there were very few
14 February 2018
Why VGC is supporting the ‘Inspire Me’ campaign
Why has VGC become a supporter of ‘Inspire Me’? We know our industry is facing a skills shortage, exacerbated by Brexit and an ageing workforce. Arcadis research suggests that British construction must recruit over 400,000 people every year between now and 2021 to meet its needs. Women make up more than half the UK population. But
7 February 2018
VGC achieves Ethical Labour Standard
VGC is the first labour supply company in the UK to achieve the new Ethical Labour Sourcing Standard (BES 6002:2017). VGC is also the first company in the rail sector, and one of just three companies to date, to attain the Ethical Labour Standard (ELS). The audit report said: “As one of the largest labour and
7 February 2018
Women in Construction group - our first meeting
Ciara writes: Our initial Women in Construction group meeting yesterday morning went extremely well. We were delighted that our chairman, Sean Fitzpatrick, joined us for the start of the meeting. He reaffirmed that we have senior level board support for the group and looks forward to seeing the improvements that we expect as a result
6 February 2018
Women in construction champion - a busy winter
Kim writes: It’s been a busy winter so far, and it’s going to get even busier. Since my last blog, I have met more people about taking my Women in construction programme into schools, as well as working with BuildForce UK and Fairness, Inclusion and Respect in Construction. Diversity training I’ve been fortunate to go
5 February 2018
Toolbox talks on fairness, inclusion and respect
Richard writes about delivering toolbox talks on language to workers on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme.
