July 18th 2023
An event designed to get young people inspired about the construction industry and supported by Selwood has won recognition with a business leaders award.
i-Construct 2022, supported by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership and held at Fareham College’s Civil Engineering Training Centre, brought together leaders from construction and civil engineering businesses with students from Year 7 up to Year 11.
The young people were tasked with interviewing representatives from businesses involved at each stage of a building project before presenting their findings to a panel of experts.
Selwood provided mentorship and help with judging, and our Managing Director of Pump Rental Solutions, John Lovell, was on hand to answer questions from the students.
The event has now been recognised with an award for Contribution to the Skills Agenda at the Central South Business Awards and was a finalist in the Company of the Year category.
Selwood continues to support i-Construct and will take part in the 2023 event planned for later this year.
John said: “As industry leaders we were delighted to support this event, which reflects our own efforts in providing opportunities for young people of all backgrounds to get into construction and engineering businesses.
“All the students involved were enthusiastic, bright, and willing to learn and it was a joy to be involved in such an important event aimed at increasing the talent pipeline in our industry and helping to create a strong, diverse workforce of the future.
“We are delighted that the event has been recognised at these awards, reflecting the effort, dedication, and passion of everyone involved.”
At last year’s event, young people were given the scenario that a new Nightingale Hospital needed to be built in an emergency because sinkholes had appeared on the existing hospital grounds.
They were tasked with interviewing representatives from businesses involved at each stage of the building project before presenting their findings to a panel of experts.
John was on hand to answer questions about the pumping operation which would be needed to divert groundwater and river water away from the construction site.
i-Construct is part-funded through the European Development Fund and HM Government, with a mission to unite like-minded businesses and attract new talent across the construction industry.