Cooks Lane, Sittingbourne

Congratulations to our Employees of the Month for June 2020.

Supervisor of the Month; Jay Gillard – Roe Brickwork

Operative of the Month; Thomas Finn – Roe Brickwork

Jay Gillard encourages the labourers to keep the site clean and tidy, and raises safety issues with the ENGIE management team to ensure they are promptly rectified.

Thomas Finn has been extremely helpful with other trades as well as with Roe Brickwork, with carrying out extra duties when they arise and lending a helping hand when needed.

Both have been rewarded with a £20 Love2Shop voucher.

Since our return in May that followed our site shut down due to COVID-19, we have slowly increased the staff numbers on site and are now starting to make good progress across the project.

The first hand over is due late August and we are currently installing kitchens and carrying out internal finishes.

The groundworks are ongoing and we are planning to carry out the construction of a new entrance at Cooks Lane in August.

We have now started to make progress on the smaller site of Cooks Lane and plan to start erection of the timber frame in July.

We have arranged for a road sweeper to attend site weekly to help minimise the quantity of dust generated from site due to the heat.

As of 5pm on Tuesday 24th March 2020, ENGIE have closed their construction sites for the health, safety & well being of their workers and subcontractors. We believe this is the right decision for our people, our business and our country.

In this current situation and with the government rules, this move is a strong show of the true company values with a Bold decision, Open to change, Demanding we stay at home and most of all Caring for everyone.

ENGIE feel this is showing true leadership within the industry & leading the way within construction. All staff will be available as normal, on email or mobiles, throughout the working day.

After completing a Manual Handling course and an Asbestos Awareness course, our ENGIE Senior Site Manger took 11 level 1 construction students from Sheppey College on a site tour around the Cooks Lane project.

After the tour the students then had a Question and Answer Session with two on-site Supervisors working for our carpentry and bricklaying subcontractors.

Being Level 1 construction students, they are yet to decide on which trade they would like to specialise in before going into Level 2 of their college course, so this was a great opportunity for them to see different trades in action on a live construction site, and ask our Site Supervisors any questions they had with regards to the trade, prospects and career paths within both carpentry and bricklaying.

Within the group there were a number of students that are already interested in both carpentry and bricklaying and found hearing from the supervisors very helpful.

ENGIE is carrying out a number of training courses over the lifespan of the Cook Lane project that will help people to gain new skills and knowledge that will benefit and further their career.

Today we invited 11 Level 1 Construction Students from Sheppey College to attend two courses, Manual Handling and Asbestos Awareness, as well as a local resident who is currently undertaking voluntary work experience on site with our ENGIE Management Team.

ENGIE attended a Careers Fair at The Sittingbourne School which allowed students in years 7 to 13, to engage with a number of local companies.

This was a great opportunity for the students to ask questions about ENGIE and the construction industry, gain knowledge on apprenticeships and work experience, and ask questions specific to the job roles they are interested in undertaking once they leave school.

It was great to receive such positive feedback from the school after the event….

Good Morning Everyone,

On behalf of the Careers Fair Staff I just wanted to extend our heartfelt thanks for attending The Sittingbourne School Careers Fair and taking the time to speak with our students, especially at this difficult time for both Business and Education.

It has been highly influential for the students and staff alike, and with such a high percentage of disadvantaged young people you have all contributed to inspiring them to look at the various options that are available to them, in the future, whether it is to choose their GCSE subjects in Year 9, A level courses at the end of Year 11 or progression into Apprenticeships or University. Of interest, we had 1500 students pass through the fair yesterday!

On behalf of the school, thank you for giving your time and helping to motivate the upcoming generation.

Kind regards
Amanda, Swale Academies Trust

Over the past 4 weeks, ENGIE have been working together with Ashford Borough Council and Churches Together to put our Kickstart programme into place. This involved redecorating the soup kitchen / coffee bar, and installing a brand new kitchen which will be used by the church to cook meals on a daily basis for the homeless people of Ashford.

Working with Ashford Borough Council, ENGIE were able to help both Andy and Kajun, two homeless gentlemen in Ashford, find temporary accommodation and offer them the chance to help ENGIE complete the coffee bar and kitchen refurb. This was a great opportunity for them to both gain training and experience and to offer them a path way into a 5 year career plan within the construction industry.

on Monday 2nd March 2020 was the grand opening of the newly renovated coffee bar and kitchen which was used for the first time to cook 60 meals for the homeless. The ENGIE site team was on hand to help and give both Andy and Kajun a care package each to help them settle into their new accommodation.

A special guest, The Mayoress of Ashford and Councillor Jenny Webb attended to officially open the new kicthen and listen to the journeys of both Andy and Kajun as they move into a career with ENGIE.

Andy and Kajun both completed the program which saw them achieve a QNUK Level 1 Health and Safety test, UKATA Asbestos Awareness, completion of a community project, and mock interviews provided by ENGIE to prepare them for their real interviews into work.

On Friday 6th March 2020 both Andy and Kajun attended their interviews, and both of them have secured new job opportunities with ENGIE. Andy now has a full time roofing job, and Kajun now has a 2 year Multi Tradesman apprenticeship.

Congratulations to our Employees of the Month for February 2020.

Supervisor of the Month; Tim Matthews – Martin Robinson Carpentry

Operative of the Month; Rafal Wrzoskiewicz - Martin Robinson Carpentry

Tim oversees good health and safety of his team and the management of their house keeping ensuring they have safe and tidy work areas at all times.

Rafal continuously goes above and beyond expectations to ensure a high health and safety standard within his work area.

Both were rewarded with a £20 Love2Shop voucher.

During February ENGIE ran 3 mentoring sessions over a course of 3 days with a group of 4 young people aged between 18-24, at the Sittingbourne Job Centre Plus.

The first session covered topics such as potential barriers into work, discussing how their previous interviews had gone, what they felt they needed help with, looking at their confidence, and psychometric testing, what they wanted to get out the sessions.

The second session looked at creating CV's, what you should and shouldn't put into a CV and how to create a covering letter.

The third and final session focused on interview techniques coupled with a mock interview session.

ENGIE is carrying out a number of training courses over the lifespan of the Cook Lane project that will help people to gain new skills and knowledge that will benefit and further their career.

We were delighted to host a certified training course, QNUK Emergency First Aid at Work, that included 4 ENGIE staff and 2 local residents referred to the course by the Sheerness Job Centre.