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
6 June 2017
Local partnership helps people find new careers
Uxbridge students are on course with new careers in construction. Students on the ‘Hard-Hat-Ready’ course at Uxbridge College are about to start work for VGC. The two partners are helping people into new careers in construction and engineering. After visiting the college in May, labour manager Richard Bright interviewed candidates for local jobs including at
8 May 2017
Improving cable avoidance
Will writes: We’re working closely with client CVU to mitigate the risk of cable strikes. We have a major contract with CVU (Colas, Volker Highways, URS JV) to upgrade traffic signals, roads and footways in London. Unfortunately we often come across services which have not been installed to industry standards. Additions and ad hoc repairs
19 April 2017
Client commendations for John's teams
Graham writes: Recently teams led by labour manager John Daly received several commendations from clients. Manchester to Blackpool rail upgrade Gangs working on the Manchester to Blackpool line were thanked by our client Siemens. The first was an incident in Bradshaw Fields, where we are working on LOC bases on the PN21BR Manchester to Bolton
10 April 2017
Costain Blue status three times running
Our team at C412 Bond Street has achieved Costain Blue status for the third reporting period in a row. Blue status is awarded for ‘inspirational’ performance in areas including quality, safety, people, health and environment. “Well done to labour manager James Burke and the whole team for this achievement,” said Chris Ryan, director of VGC
30 March 2017
James Berry highly commended in Crossrail awards
At the Crossrail awards event on 29 March, apprentice James Berry was highly commended in the Apprenticeship Collaboration category. “This is a great achievement,” said Chris Ryan, director of VGC Labour Solutions south. “James was successful out of over 650 apprentices across the project. Well done to him, and to Lewis Bennett who was also nominated.”
23 March 2017
Shortlisted for Construction News Diversity award
We have been selected as a finalist for the Diversity Champion of the Year category 2017 Construction News Award. Shortlisted in this important category are: Balfour Beatty Carillion Highways Interserve Construction Lendlease VGC Group Vinci Construction UK This is because we promote fairness and respect and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce. We have a
27 February 2017
Becoming a BuildForce mentor
James writes: I’ve volunteered to be a mentor for BuildForce. BuildForce is a new programme to help ex-services personnel into construction and engineering. I believe I can help because I have experience of working my way up through various construction roles including general labourer site person in charge lead site person in charge and now I’m
