Business stories

My name is Alice Dudley. I am a trainee estimator at Speller Metcalfe, Malvern.

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The apprenticeship is a great way of approaching a career. It means I learn on the job. So I get to put everything I

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learn at university into practice. I learn skills that are relevant to the role, whether that be presentation skills that I don't always learn in the workplace.

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My name is Vicky Thompson. I'm a senior estimator and I work for Speller Metcalfe Carve here in Malvern. The reason we took on a BCU apprentice. It's fantastic to

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be at the start of somebody's journey in their career in construction and it's excellent to be able to help mould them in the business and the business needs.

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We are currently in a module where I'm learning construction terms and the whole process of how to build a residential house. I am involved

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throughout the whole process of a construction tender. So it means a job will come in, I help price it, I contact subcontractors, and then when it goes

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onto site, then I'm involved in that side of it. So it's a great way to learn about the whole construction process,

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not just focused on one aspect. Alice's confidence has really increased as well.

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We've seen it particularly when she talks to clients, to internal teams, and to subcontractors. She's helped support our tender process, which ultimately

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means we can turn around more bids and increase profit for the business. Having Alice in the pre-construction office has been a real bonus. um for our

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productivity. She's become a really capable pair of hands and he's starting to take on lots more tasks independently. So the benefits of

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learning at university and then learning in the workplace is you get this well-rounded understanding. I see the industry as it changes as new

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legislation comes in. I'm on the front line of understanding that we'd highly recommend that other employers take on a BCU degree apprentice. Alice has been fantastic and

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the support that we get from BCU has been unrivalled. If you're planning on starting an apprenticeship, go for it. It is the best thing I have done. At the

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end of it all, I'll have a degree, a charter ship, and a full-time job.