Equans pledges support to university following site visit
Following a visit to site in August from one of it's tutors, Equans has pledged to support the University of Bedfordshire and it's future potential students.
Equans Site Manager and Construction Management Graduate, Joshua Peach, has been working with the University of Bedfordshire and his former tutor, Dr James Bishop, in the University's campaign to promote their Construction Management course to future potential students.
As part of this campaign, Josh's former tutor requested a visit to the Glengall Road site where Josh has been working since completing his degree in Construction Management at the University. James spent time catching up with his former student and also asked Josh to take part in a promotional film that would later be used to showcase Josh's success since leaving the University as well as sharing success stories from the other graduates in Josh's class.
Josh was of course happy to provide support and in August, arranged to give James a personal overview and escort around the Glengall Road development in Southwark.
Josh studied part-time at the university for five years, working towards his Construction Management degree, whilst also working on site for Equans. During his time at university, Josh was given help from Equans by way of on-call support from our in-house Learning & Development team, financial support for university fees and also being allowed to work flexible hours so that he could focus on his studies when needed.
"I would definitely recommend a career in construction, and especially with Equans. The support I received during my studies was brilliant, and I truly believe that the company looks after it's staff. I can't wait to welcome the next generation of students onto the site and give them an insight into the varied range of careers they could achieve within the industry." Josh Peach, Site Manager, Equans
During the visit, Josh and James reminisced about their time at university together, and celebrated how well Josh had done to achieve his BSc (Hons) degree. Josh was also filmed whilst he gave James a full site specific safety induction before providing a detailed overview of the scheme and personally escorting him around the site to get a first person view of the works being undertaken.
Throughout his visit, James had an informal interview with Josh, which would later form part of the video being produced by the university to showcase the success of students that had passed the course, in an effort to promote construction related courses to potential future students whilst also giving them an invaluable insight into the career progression possible after achieving their degree.
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Following the success of the visit, and in true collaboration, Josh agreed to work in partnership with the university and aid them in promoting courses, especially those looking to start a career in construction by giving future students the opportunity to visit site in person and receive a personal overview of the scheme.
"It has been a pleasure to have Josh on the FdSc, and the follow-on BSc (Hons) Construction Management degrees at the university. Josh has shown a real determination to do well and made a great job of balancing his work and university commitments, ultimately achieving a first class honours degree. It is no surprise to see him doing so well in his current role with Equans, and we are sure he has a bright future and career ahead of him.
"It's important for the university to maintain close relationships with regional and national employers, and we were pleased to jointly sign a letter of intent with Equans, demonstrating the intention from both sides to collaborate moving forward around teaching, learning, and research opportunities. We look forward to returning to the Glengall Road site with the new cohort of students for a site visit later in the year, with Josh able to demonstrate as an ambassador for both the university and Equans in terms of what can be achieved." Dr James Bishop, Senior Lecturer in Construction Management and Building Technology, University of Bedfordshire.
