Next Generation Employer of the Year
This category celebrates those that have dedicated themselves to creating exceptional working environments for their emerging talents. Whether through outreach and employment initiatives, learning and development schemes, or career advancement opportunities, these organisations go the extra mile to nurture and empower the next generation of talent.
Build The Way
Build the Way is a 9-month entry-level architecture traineeship providing an alternative and accessible route into a career designing and making buildings, spaces, cities, and communities. The programme provides alternative routes into the industry with the aim of diversifying the profession to ensure cities are designed by those who inhabit them. The yearly programme provides valuable training for young people alongside paying them the London Living Wage. With no experience-based barriers to application; places are offered to those who can show a passion for design and cities. Trainees are also enrolled at the London School of Architecture’s Extended Programme Qualification (worth up to 28 UCAS points for higher education) which presents the practice of spatial design as a collective endeavour with a focus on context and sustainability. Build The Way hopes to be a part of the movement and debate around architectural education and training, changing the future landscape.
Burroughs
Productivity and Performance / Strengthening our Foundations
A seminal moment… In the last year Burroughs took a decision to invest heavily in our WHOLE team, embarking on a learning and development scheme over 12 months. The cost of this investment in training provider fees and non-billable staff time is huge for a business of our size. We see this as a seminal moment, a never before done scale of investment in our staff, backing them to develop and the business to receive payback through the growth of our teams skills, mindset and confidence in their abilities. Staff are attending performance and productivity workshops with a highly regarded coach. Layered on top is a program of “Leadership” training for our SMT along with handpicked EMERGING LEADERS who are identified as Future Leaders in their fields and the business. The buy-in has been excellent with multiple sources of positive feedback forthcoming, even more so from our early career workforce.
Enigma Industrial Services
Enigma-IS are extremely proud with the progress and contribution Aimi provides our learners which is focused on community engagement, flexibility, personalised learning and building a workforce for the construction sector. Our organisation has experienced a sustainable growth and change over 12 months, with a number of exciting and innovative initiatives coming to fruition, including apprentice uptake to over 10% of the PAYE employees, ‘The 5% Club’ recognition, CITB ATO approval and the development and implementation of our leadership & development programme with currently 40 learners and is provided by Aimi. Aimi continuously strives to improve her own performance, in the pursuit of excellence, including supporting our Apprentice Revitalisation Programme, she collaborated with external training providers and organisations i.e. CITB, NASC and found creative ways to support our vision of building the developing the next generation which has received excellent reviews by stakeholders and helped build the culture of our department.
Micim
At MiCiM, nurturing future talent is our commitment. We understand that investing in emerging professionals is vital for industry innovation and success. Through mentorship, training, and hands-on experience, we empower individuals to realize their potential and become tomorrow's leaders. Our culture of continuous learning fosters collaboration and excellence, keeping us at the forefront of innovation. Despite being relatively small, we actively support young people in starting their construction careers through various early-career schemes, including summer internships and year-long placements for students. We've seen success with students returning to join us permanently after completing their degrees. Our graduate recruitment program has thrived, with Quantity Surveying graduates now in full Commercial Manager roles, benefiting from mentoring and hands-on project experience. We've also expanded apprenticeships and initiated a Schools Outreach Programme to inspire the next generation, achieving a 66% female participation rate in our 2023 placements.
Mott MacDonald
Foundations and Geotechnics Graduate Programme
The Mott MacDonald Graduate Programme provides an integrated and enjoyable experience for both our valued graduates and wider team. We have our PRIDE values (Progress, Respect, Integrity, Drive and Excellence) at the heart of everything we do, ensuring a diverse range of graduates and fair process.We equip our early career professionals with both technical and soft skills key to their career development through exposure to challenging and diverse projects, technical training, and mentorship. Additionally, the company-wide Accelerating Your Future Programme provides opportunities to network with other graduates, developing soft skills through workshop-based training. Our Graduate Accelerator Programme bridges the gap between geologists’ and engineers’ knowledge from university.Support from Senior Managers is key, providing diverse role models throughout the business and active mentoring and career development opportunities for all ECP’s. We are extremely proud of the successes of our ECP’s and empower them succeed in the future.
Winvic Construction
Winvic has multiple initiatives that focus on developing and supporting early-career professionals; aligned with its growth, Winvic has consistently increased engagement and support to those seeking work experience, on-site placements, Apprenticeships and Year In Industry placements. HR and Training and Social Value teams work collaboratively to deliver tried and tested engagement activities with schools, colleges and universities but in 2023 and 2024, launched brand new ambitious initiatives fitting to the needs of next generation employees. A five-day college Enrichment Programme and a STEM After School Club.