24 November 2017
School careers visit - 'Aspirations' afternoon
Kim writes: I spent yesterday afternoon talking about careers in construction to year 9 students at Fulham Boys School. The school had organised a ‘speed networking’ event to help the boys with their career planning. They wanted to help to “widen their horizons and begin to think about how they make themselves ready for the
13 November 2017
Investment in infrastructure is welcome
Chris writes: I am pleased that the government has confirmed its commitment to delivering the high-quality infrastructure needed to sustain a competitive and productive economy. Last year the National Infrastructure Commission became an executive agency of government. This decision set the scene for a spending programme that will sustain employment over the next ten years. This
6 November 2017
Additional benefits from behaviour-based safety
Our ongoing commitment to health and safety is producing an unexpected extra bonus. As well as improving site safety culture, ‘Be Safe by Choice with VGC’ has promoted dialogue between staff. VGC’s Be Safe by Choice behaviour-based safety programme includes the appointment of workplace safety champions, our key influencers. The programme equips key influencers with
6 November 2017
Explore Your Horizons networking for young people
Kim writes: On 19 October I took part in the Explore Your Horizons networking event for young people. The event was organised by Team London, the Mayor of London’s volunteer programme, and held at Lords Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood. The MCC, the Local Enterprise Partnership for London (LEAP) and the Careers & Enterprise
24 October 2017
Guest blog: Samaritans
James Woodcock, Samaritans corporate fundraising manager, writes: Statistically, construction workers across the industry are at higher risk of suicide than average. An ONS survey, Suicide by Occupation, released in March this year, found that manual workers in construction are at 3.7 times greater risk of suicide than their peers in other sectors. Some people find
4 October 2017
Supporting the EPIC programme
Kim writes: A few months ago the Mayor’s Fund for London asked me to participate in their ‘EPIC’ programme, run with Serious about Youth (SAY). ‘EPIC’ stands for Employment Preparation Intensive Course. It is a two week course held at the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Deptford, south London, for 16-25 year olds who have left
30 August 2017
Kim's mock interviews at Ruislip high school
Kim writes: In July, I supported Ruislip high school with mock interview sessions for year 10 students (aged 15-16). A number of us from various industries had volunteered to take part in the school’s ‘Inspire the Future’ campaign. The campaign aims to prepare students for their future: this session offered each student an interview with
24 August 2017
Mental resilience - Northern Hub safety meeting
Graham writes: I attended an excellent Step-up for Safety session earlier this week. It was one of four sessions this week to support health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce run by the Northern Hub Alliance. The hub has had 2.5 million working hours since work began in 2014, and is due to finish at
31 July 2017
Six-month company update
Our recent staff update meeting reported on progress in 2017 to date. Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick opened the meeting on 22 June. He welcomed ten new members of staff – nine of them to newly-created posts. He also congratulated senior resourcer Jana Romanova, section engineer Bobby Hayre and recruitment support co-ordinator Lewis Mould on their promotions.
30 June 2017
Developing young people - 5 per cent club
As part of our commitment to the next generation, we have joined the 5 per cent club. The 5% Club is an industry-led initiative focused on driving the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students. The campaign aims to get the UK’s public and private companies to commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored
16 June 2017
Safety stand-down day planning
Will writes: I’m busy planning a safety stand-down day for everyone working in VGC Construction. 24 members of the team will get together next Monday (19 June) at Cardinal House for safety training by HSQE manager Richard Wheeler. It will also be good for us to get to know one another better. We’re really pleased
15 June 2017
My first year as a graduate engineer
Tahir writes: I joined VGC group on 26 September 2016 as a graduate engineer. Not having much experience as an engineer yet, I was unsure of what to expect from the company and the role as a whole. I work within the rail projects team at VGC. Rail is one of the most stringently regulated
