B&W supports higher education programme
Will Marshall is the latest PlanBEE student to join Black and White (B&W) Engineering through the award-winning education programme, which allows aspiring construction professionals to earn whilst learning, through day-release studies and work placements, at a host of leading North East-based companies.
The innovative PlanBEE higher education scheme, which has won accolades at the AJ100 Awards and Building Awards for its tailored approach to learning, provides students with a regular salary, a professional qualification and a guaranteed job opportunity on graduation. The bespoke programme’s training combines lessons at Gateshead College, one day each week, with a series of work placements, rotating through companies like Ryder Architecture, FaulknerBrown Architects, NBS, BIM Academy, Cundall, Robertson Construction, Sir Robert McAlpine, Castle Building Services, Bowmer and Kirkland, Capita, Tolent and Xsite Architecture.
Will has already completed four other placements and joins B&W with some great experience already under his belt. At B&W, Will is due to embark on a tailored training programme to put MEP building services engineering theory into practice, developing designs, producing calculations using industry-leading software and learning BIM and Revit modelling. He will be allocated a mentor and be taken to design team meetings to gain first-hand experience of the dynamics of collaborative project teams.
Whilst Will has previously completed a placement with an Architectural practice and NBS, this will be Will’s first experience of MEP engineering. Will explains, “Various construction placements over the past year and a half have provided me with invaluable experience and developed my knowledge within these disciplines. This is my first taste of working in an MEP engineering consultancy firm and I am eager to apply my present understanding of other areas to what is currently a gap in my knowledge.”
B&W Director, Steve Horn, extended a warm welcome to Will and added, “PlanBEE is a fantastic and innovative programme providing opportunities in construction for talented youngsters. It allows these promising youngsters the chance to learn in a real-life engineering and construction environment. There is an ever-increasing need for more collaboration and inter-disciplinary working. Our industry is evolving and we require individuals with a much broader set of skills and a different education. This unique programme is structured to deliver these skills.”