As the demand for skilled engineers continues to rise, our series showcasing the talent, growth, and contributions of apprentices within the civil engineering sector, aims to highlight the great work and dedication of our apprentices to help inspire future candidates, as well as throwing a spotlight on the importance of mentorship and practical skills development. Apprenticeships have become a vital pathway for developing the next generation of professionals and our apprentice civil engineer Cameron Cooke, based in the Northern region, has demonstrated over the last two years, the value of hands-on learning and is an inspiration for other young people looking to join the industry, helping to address the ongoing skill shortage.

The apprenticeship and progress

Cameron started with Barhale in September 2022 as an apprentice civil engineer at the age of 16. Over the last two years, he has been working at Hampton Loade, where Barhale have been undertaking works on the water treatment works upgrade for South Staffs Water. He did this alongside working towards his T-Level in Construction Design, Planning and Surveying at South Cheshire College. T Levels are technical based qualifications, equivalent to three A-Levels. With a mixture of three days a week at college and 2 days a week on site Cameron has made significant progress, now ensuring engineering checks and governance are upheld on site through working closely with Senior Engineer Jamie Geddes, the pair have created quite a partnership on site. He is now progressing onto the higher level 4 apprenticeship course at Liverpool College which consists of one day release at college and four days on site. Cameron shares how much progress he has made and how he has been given the independence to support a project with autonomy. “At Hampton Loade, the site agent was off on paternity leave for a month. The Project Manager (Pedro Marinho) dropped into site once or twice a week but for the remainder, I took on the responsibility of overseeing day-to-day site operations, ensuring the team adhered to all health and safety regulations and following our project programme efficiently, which I truly enjoyed”.

Highlights of the job

A key highlight and example of responsibility Cameron was tasked with is organising a graduate visit around our Etruria site recently. Cameron personally gave the visitors an overview of using total stations for surveying, running through the step-by-step process for setting up the equipment and then demonstrating how to aim the total stations telescope at a reflective prism placed at a target point.

Another highlight for Cameron and a good example of how Cameron has embraced his role and making a significant contribution is within the front foot initiative. As part of the health and safety promotion culture that Barhale maintains on site, a principal contractor (RSE) conducts a monthly health and safety stand-up session on good practice, commitment to safety and control measures, as well as fostering a culture of ongoing improvement. These sessions run by the RSE site manager, invited Cameron to share his journey with Barhale. Cameron spoke about his experience in the industry, which was very well-received by the audience. His testimonial not only inspired his peers but also highlighted the valuable contributions a young professional in the field can make.

Challenges

The apprenticeship does come with its challenges which can be tough to navigate but can also be very rewarding. Cameron admits that he felt it was a challenging role due to being new to the industry but by keeping focused and consistent, it has got easier over time. He also shares that before he learnt to drive, in his first year, he was waking up between 4.30-5am every morning when on site to catch two trains from Nantwich-Bridgnorth. However, rather than seeing this as a problem, he looked at it from a fair point of view. His mother, who also works in the industry has always demonstrated the same work ethic when it comes to early starts, and no doubt this spurred him on to pass his driving test, which he has now achieved.

Personal interests and future plans

Cameron, who is a huge football fan and a regular visitor at Old Trafford to watch Manchester United with his younger brother, as well as a keen golfer, looks very positively towards the future. Cameron is now embarking on the level 4 apprenticeship at Liverpool College. Clearly showing his dedication to his career and development, the apprenticeship will dive deeper into civil engineering and provide Cameron with further technical knowledge and responsibility. Cameron’s line manager, Owen Mills, board director (head office) is very supportive of Cameron’s journey and his future learning. “I think Cameron’s journey with Barhale epitomises how the early careers and opportunities should be. We are fortunate to have a culture and support structure that enables us to offer these opportunities, we couldn’t do it without our people. But the individual has to show willingness to learn and get involved – Cameron has absolutely embraced this from day one, always positive, always showing interest, soaking up knowledge and experience, and never afraid to ask questions. His T-level journey has been a great kick start and I wish him every success with his progression onto the level 4 engineering apprenticeship.”

Recommendation

When thinking about the apprenticeship opportunity as a whole he has this to say; “If somebody wishes to be in a similar role to me then I’d say there is no other better way then doing what I’ve done. It is the perfect balance of theory and practical.”

We wish Cameron every success for the future with Barhale and his learning journey and know with hard work, determination, his firsthand experience and enthusiasm for the profession, he is likely to be a future leader.