Connect Magazine 2020

2020

INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE Page 6

HOME BUILDERS FEDERATION SUBCONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR Page 10

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Highlights

2020

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Hot Shots

National Growth on a Local Scale

High winds and heavy rain, but a fabulous day out

We’re expanding on the northern and Welsh fronts

Our Finances We’re in good shape and all set for a post-Brexit future

Class of 2019 Celebrating our apprentices’ success with two glitzy award ceremonies

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Technical Know-how Read about our approach to innovation and quality

What Makes our Apprenticeship so Good?

Why we train only the most promising applicants

Rewarding Loyalty Awards Success We’re going to need a bigger trophy cabinet!

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Meet ‘The Generals’, our long-serving electricians

04 08 14 20 26

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The highlight of the year was being awarded ‘Subcontractor of the Year’ by the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

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Welcome

from the M D Welcome to the latest edition of ‘Connect’, our in-house magazine.

As you will see from the following pages, it’s been an action-packed 12 months. The highlight for me was being awarded ‘Subcontractor of the Year’ by the Home Builders Federation (HBF). We care very much about our reputation and we are immensely proud to have been recognised in this way by our customers.

Although we've enjoyed another record-breaking year, we don’t take anything for granted and I am very grateful to all our staff and customers for your continued support and loyalty.

Best wishes

Nathan Evans Managing Director 3

National growth on a local scale LEEDS

It’s been one of the most politically unsettled years in our 39-year history, but despite the economic uncertainty, our turnover’s grown by 15% this year.

WARRINGTON

There are two reasons for this: firstly, we’ve increased market share with our existing customers and secondly, we’ve expanded into new territory.

SHEFFIELD

STAFFORD

TELFORD

We opened a new branch in Warrington in October 2019, and during 2020 we’re planning to expand further in South Wales and also into East Anglia and Yorkshire.

NOTTINGHAM

BIRMINGHAM KETTERING BURY ST EDMUNDS MILTON KEYNES

GLOUCESTER (HQ) OXFORD

SWANSEA

Midlands

CARDIFF

Central

BRISTOL TROWBRIDGE

Wales & South West South & South East

BRACKNELL CRAWLEY

BRIDGWATER BARNSTAPLE

Further expansion

SOUTHAMPTON

WORTHING

EXETER NEWQUAY

PLYMOUTH

Current branches Proposed new branches

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I have worked with Clarkson Evans for over a decade now.

After relocating to a different business unit within Taylor Wimpey it is comforting to be able to work with a familiar face and still experience the high levels of service that Clarkson Evans are known for.

In the current climate it is reassuring to know that Clarkson Evans are always reliable and deliver a high-quality service that helps to continually contribute to the success and growth of both companies.

Adam Walker, Commercial Director, Taylor Wimpey North West

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But is all this growth sustainable and does it make us more efficient?

Time and again, we all hear of businesses that grew rapidly, but went bust just as quickly. We’re confident that’s not going to happen to us.

A bold claim? Not really. You see, our business is driven by customer demand – not just an increase in the market for wiring new builds, but from customers pro-actively coming to us and asking us to tender for their new developments. Word gets around that we’re always improving, that we do things differently from our competitors and as a result, we’re invited to tender further and further afield.

Our aim is to continue to be the biggest new-build electrical contractor in the UK and the contractor of choice for our customers. But it’s not just about profits. We want to offer as many young people as we can a career that will literally change their lives. Over the years, we’ve recruited hundreds of young people, almost all of whom we’ve trained in-house at one of our four (soon to be five) training centres.

We’re fully committed to providing work for every single one of them and to keep giving them opportunities to develop their careers with us.

This is what fuels our expansion and drives us forward. And every time we open a new branch, we employ and train local staff, working on local sites with a local manager, all consistently working to company-wide processes and procedures and with the same positive mindset. It’s what we call The Clarkson Evans Way.

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I first came across Clarkson Evans in 2002 when I was Commercial Director for Taylor Woodrow (Bryant) in the West Midlands. In 2007 I moved to Barratt West Midlands again as Commercial Director and we used Clarkson Evans extensively.

Now I am Managing Director at Barratt/David Wilson Yorkshire East I still take the time to keep an eye on the expansion of Clarkson Evans.

I know from experience that Clarkson Evans can deliver a firstrate, competitive service, so I was pleased when they said they would be opening a branch up here. I know that their service will be every bit as good as it is everywhere else in the country.

Daniel Smith, Managing Director, Barratt/David Wilson, Yorkshire East

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Investing in our Future PEOPLE AND TRAINING Pivotal new roles have been created to support business growth and sustainability, including Head of IT, Head of HR, Head of Health & Safety, Head of Property & Facilities and Procurement Manager. We’re benefiting from the expertise of highly skilled and experienced professionals who will make a real contribution to the next phase of our growth.

Training apprentices continues to be a major investment and a core part of our strategy (see pages 20 and 21) but we’re also increasing our spend on management development (see pages 28 and 29).

FLEET AND PLANT We’ve purchased 85 new VW Transporters this year, sticking with the tried and tested (if a little more expensive) brand that reliably gets our site-based staff to where they need to be.

We’re also getting greener, with 10 electric vehicle charging points installed at HQ and a plan to switch more of our company cars to electric next year.

Good tradespeople may only be as good as their tools (or so the saying goes), so we purchased more than 3,000 high-quality pieces of kit during 2019.

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90%

of net profits are invested back into the business, meaning we’re more efficient and can keep our prices low

IT AND SYSTEMS Zeus may be the Greek god of sky, lightning and thunder but for us it’s the name of a company-wide project to develop more user-friendly, integrated IT systems. We’re set to benefit from upgraded bespoke software to continue driving our tendering, invoicing and ‘price work’ payroll processes that will allow us to work much smarter.

Next year will also see a major investment in IT infrastructure, continued development of cyber security measures and investigations into integration with our customers’ systems.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND NEW BRANCHES We’ve invested over £55,000 in new furniture to improve office dynamics, and around £20,000 to make our staff kitchens and break out spaces a better place for those all-important lunchtime and ‘water cooler’ chats.

We also continue to invest in our branch network, with Warrington now up and running and plans in the pipeline to expand further in South Wales and also into East Anglia and Yorkshire during 2020.

Next on the agenda is our quest to find a site in Gloucester which is large enough to house our entire head office team all in one place. We can then re-unite the departments that had to separate when we outgrew our existing premises.

The search continues…

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Financial Facts and Figures Turnover is up by 15%, from £59m in 2017/18 to an estimated £68m in 2018/19, boosted by the opening of two new branches (Kettering and Nottingham), but it's also a reflection of growth across our existing branches. Our northern patch is particularly buoyant with 20% growth and this will increase when the figures for our new Warrington branch start to come in. During 2020 further expansion is planned for South Wales, we’ll be venturing into East Anglia and Yorkshire and also relocating our Milton Keynes branch to larger premises, incorporating a new training centre for midlands-based apprentices.

The south-west has been more of a challenge. In response, we upped our focus on performance and improving customer relations in the region. As a result, our Newquay, Barnstaple and Plymouth branches enjoyed above average growth during the second half of the year. Our Exeter team still have spare capacity, so we have more work to do there.

Financial strength is most importantly about being in a sustainable position so that we can weather any economic storm. That’s why we’ve built up good cash reserves, enabling us to make decisions based on the long-term interests of the company. We have to be profitable, but this profit must be converted into cash and our strategy has long been to re-invest most of this back into the company. In 2018/19 we generated £1.8m of operating cash and we invested 90% of this into four core areas (see page 6 and 7).

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3.8% NET PROFIT FOR REINVESTMENT

1.5% CORPORATION TAX

We are pleased to report that during 2019 we have continued to build on the financial strength of the business, despite this period of significant Brexit uncertainty.

7.1% OVERHEADS 2.4% BRANCHES

6.0% FLEET & TOOLS

36.9% MATERIALS

EXPENDITURE

6.5% SUPERVISION & CUSTOMER SUPPORT

35.8% ELECTRICIANS' WAGES

7.5

TURNOVER BY MONTH AND YEAR

7.0 6.5 6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

TURNOVER BY BRANCH

(% OF TOTAL TURNOVER)

*Figures not yet available branch opened in October 2019

WARRINGTON

*

MIDLANDS NOTTINGHAM 1%

STAFFORD 4% TELFORD 2% BIRMINGHAM 12%

KETTERING 1%

CENTRAL

MILTON KEYNES 7% GLOUCESTER (HQ) 18%

CARDIFF 5%

BARNSTAPLE 1%

BRISTOL 6% TROWBRIDGE 8% BRIDGWATER 2%

OXFORD 9%

BRACKNELL 7% CRAWLEY 5% SOUTHAMPTON 2%

EXETER 5% NEWQUAY 2%

PLYMOUTH 2%

In terms of conversion to cash, we aim to work collaboratively with all our customers to ensure we deliver and are paid on time, whilst also working in partnership with our suppliers to agree the best possible trading terms.

The cash we generate for reinvestment is therefore maintained from strong long-term business partnerships.

Although we operate in a particularly competitive industry, we do not use subcontractors who are hired and fired according to seasonal demand.

SOUTH & SOUTH EAST

WORTHING 1%

WALES & SOUTH WEST

Having a permanently employed workforce brings several benefits in terms of the service we can provide, but it also increases costs, heightening the need for us to drive continued profitability through robust management of our underlying costs and a strong supply chain for our electrical materials.

That’s why we have recently hired an industry-experienced Procurement Manager to work with our suppliers, ensuring we get the best long-term service and prices.

As we enter 2020, the company has never been in better financial shape and – whatever challenges the coming year may throw at us - we are confident that we will continue to be a strong and sustainable business partner.

Paula Bradshaw ACA Chief Financial Officer

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And the winner is...

HBF Housebuilder Awards - Subcontractor of the Year 2019 When we heard we’d got to the finals, we were really pleased, but when we won, we were ecstatic! This award is particularly special to us because it’s judged by those whose opinion we care about most - our customers.

We are so proud to have won and it’s the icing on the cake for another record-breaking year.

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The Electrical Contractors’ Association Large Employer of the Year 2019 We were particularly thrilled to win the ECA award because it means so much in the electrical industry. We were up against the most highly regarded companies in the sector. The judges were impressed by our commitment to delivering high quality customer service, and to developing staff through our in-house apprenticeship programme.

Most Innovative Contractor of the Year 2019 – Barratt David Wilson Homes (Exeter) Steve Fowler, Barratt David Wilson’s Commercial Director and Tim Davies, Construction Director praised us for our first-class apprenticeship scheme, our video newsletter, our use of technology and the fact that we’ll never rest on our laurels and always keep innovating.

Subcontractor of the Year 2018 – David Wilson Homes (Mercia) It was a real pat on the back for our hard-working teams in the Midlands when David Wilson Homes crowned us Subcontractor of the Year for their Mercia region, for the second year running.

RoSPA President’s Gold Award and Gold Award for Fleet Safety 2019 RoSPA awarded us a highly respected President’s Award (for achieving Gold Medals 13 years in a row), and we were also delighted to receive a Gold Award for our work on fleet safety this year.

These awards are testament to our sustained investment in health and safety and a determination to maintain high standards year after year.

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Pride in the Job “

This year, we’ve helped 64 site managers win NHBC Pride in the Job Awards, the most highly sought-after mark of quality in the house building sector. Sixteen went on to win Seals of Excellence. As we go to press we are delighted to hear that two site managers have won Regional Awards (see bottom of page).

Ross Llewellyn and the team at Clarkson Evans played a pivotal role towards our NHBC Quality Award at Carnegie Court, Bassaleg. Quality is paramount and Redrow are proud of the homes that they deliver. Clarkson Evans have been, and continue to be, part of that.

Nick Davies, Site Manager, Redrow Homes (South Wales)

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Stop Press! We have just heard that Paul Moore (left) of David Wilson Homes (Mercia) and Brian Griffin (right) of CALA Homes (Midlands) have won Regional Awards for their sites at Hallam Park in Lichfield and Lansdown in Cheltenham. Congratulations to both Paul and Brian from all of us at CE for this huge achievement and well done to our senior site supervisors, Mat Harris and Brian Cresswell, for the part they played in this success story.

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“

I am very fortunate to work with Alan Groves from Clarkson Evans. He has to be one of the most supportive and work conscious subcontractors I have ever worked with. He and his team are a pleasure to work alongside.

Mel Brook, Site Manager, Taylor Wimpey (Bristol)

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The continued positive feedback from residents at Applegarth Vale and the local community in Surrey adds to the overall success for CALA Homes Thames. I am extremely proud of all of the workforce including Alex Glasby and his team.

Phil Williams, Senior Site Manager, Cala Homes (Thames)

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Josh Kirkham and his team are hard-working, the quality’s very good and they keep to programme. It’s a pleasure to work with Clarkson Evans!

Mark Gallagher, Site Manager, Persimmon Homes (South Midlands)

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After only working with Mark Sterry for a short time I gave him the title Number One - a true professional and a pleasure to work with!

Jonathan Smith, Senior Site Manager, Bellway Homes (West Midlands)

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Each month we produce The Spark, our in-house video newsletter, which includes updates and advice from our Technical Director, Leigh Mason.

Achieving quality

through technical know-how We’re innovating to provide added value to our customers through product development and technical advice.

We’re also finding creative ways of making sure our workforce stays well informed about how best to achieve a quality job. Here are just some of the steps we’re taking to remain in the lead when it comes to service and quality.

Staying up to date If new technology or regulations mean changes are on the horizon, we’ll be discussing new products with our home builder clients, making suggestions for the final specification.

As a regular contributor to the technical debate, our Technical Director, Leigh Mason, sits on contractor quality and best practice groups, and regularly attends Home Builders Federation, NICEIC and Electrical Contractors Association technical meetings.

Getting greener We know that the drive for sustainability is rapidly changing the way homes are built and used, so we’re already training our staff to wire up car charging points and battery stores and looking at the implications for all new homes to be powered only by electricity by 2025.

Training our staff

Our ‘secret weapon’ for communicating key messages about quality and technical matters with our workforce is our inhouse video newsletter, 'The Spark'. Every month, our Area Managers hold branch meetings with all their staff. They watch the videos as a group and discuss the steps every single person must take to achieve the right way to do things – The Clarkson Evans Way.

Product innovation If we can save time, improve safety or deliver something that ultimately creates a better finish, we’ll change our processes or invent a tool or technique that does just that. This year, we introduced the Clarkson Evans Spacer Device – a very simple reusable plastic tool that allows painters to achieve a neat finish around decorative switches and sockets, even when working at speed, preventing accessories from getting splashed and tarnished, and keeping live wires well away from wet brushes.

Homeowner satisfaction We work with all the major house builders but we know that the ultimate customer is the homeowner, so we work in partnership with builders to deliver the very best customer experience we

can offer. If things go wrong, we fix them quickly and without a fuss. But as we get bigger and bigger, we need robust IT systems to track and record work, to help us see the big pictures in the data and to streamline our services. Next year, we’ll be introducing new software to help us to do that, and with luck, we’ll be able to integrate it with builder systems too.

We plan to be able to offer self-service appointment booking and we’ll be keeping our fingers firmly on the pulse of customer satisfaction.

We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target for the Homeowner section of our new website: we want to create a video – 'Welcome to Your New Home' - that is so engaging and useful that it gets more views than our 'How to Change a Ceiling Spotlight Bulb' video. At 89,000 views (and counting) for the latter, it could be quite a challenge!

Dedicated QA Manager At the beginning of the year, we appointed a Quality Assurance Manager, solely focused on ensuring that our work is of the highest standard. As a qualified electrician with many years of new build experience, he’s been able to create a QA management and reporting system, with built-in accountability and rigorous auditing.

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Food

Glorious Food Let’s go Mexicana

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Pizza for lunch at work!? Proper job Will Heynen, Videographer

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When we set up our business back in the 80s, we believed that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, so we laid on sausage and bacon sandwiches for all our staff. We still firmly believe that a happy and productive army marches on its stomach.

As well as breakfast, we serve up monthly bacon baps (with vegan and vegetarian options) for all our site-based staff and provide fresh fruit every week, plus regular lunchtime feasts for our staff at HQ. We treated staff to pizzas on ‘Blue Monday’, pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, and fish and chips on National Fish & Chip Day in June. We got staff to vote for their next treat at our summer barbecue – and Mexican street food was the runaway winner.

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Mental Health Matters

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This year we’ve been busy training 44 Mental Health First Aiders, knowing that the statistics for mental ill-health in the construction sector are alarming. Male site workers are three times more likely to commit suicide than the average UK male, so wellbeing needs to be right up there as a priority for all employers in the sector.

Training has been delivered inhouse by our own qualified MHFA instructors: Matt Gilbank, Health and Safety Manager, and Andy Wilson, Head of Apprentice and Team Leader Development. Our newly-qualified Mental Health First Aiders now know how to spot the signs that a colleague is suffering and what to do as a first response.

With a ‘tough guy’ image widespread in construction, and a demanding working environment, it’s perhaps no surprise that stress and anxiety can build and individuals might not be keen to talk about it. But we want to spread the message that it’s “OK not to be OK” and we hope our investment in training MH First Aiders will encourage our staff to open up if they need to.

Going Over and Above Day in and day out, our staff work hard to get the job done. This level of commitment is all part of the ‘Clarkson Evans Way’. But though we reward our staff with days out, long service awards and food feasts, we didn’t have a way to thank people for doing something extra special, or for giving them the recognition they deserve and sharing their stories amongst our ever-growing, geographically diverse workforce.

So, at the end of August, we launched the Over & Above Awards.

Anyone can nominate any colleague, no matter who they are and what their job is. Nominations are then discussed by a panel of judges from across the business and recommendations made for final approval by the Board.

Our first crop of winners……

ROSS LLEWELLYN – Cardiff Team Leader. Finished his own work for the day and was almost home when he responded to a call and got back in his van to help his colleagues out on their sites, finally finishing work at 7pm.

OSCAR ASTBURY – Formerly Grounds Maintenance Person, now an Electrical Apprentice. Never complains, puts work first and doesn’t mind staying late to get the job done.

STACEY MORGAN – Customer Care Team Leader. Takes on extra work without being asked, she’s a listening ear, a brilliant organiser and holds the team together.

KATIE BOUTCHER – Gloucester Site Supervisor. Helped a new, high-spec home builder navigate through a tricky design process and got their first ever sales area open on time.

OLIVER TUBB – Oxford Team Leader and ROBBIE MOSS – Electrical Apprentice. Fixed a cooker problem for a young mother after they’d finished their own work. ‘The world needs more people like them. They were brilliant and so helpful,’ said the homeowner.

Winners receive a £50 gift voucher and nominees who don’t win are given an ‘honourable mention’ in our staff newsletter.

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What makes our apprenticeship so good ?

“We are tough” is one of the phrases used in our apprentice recruitment campaigns, and it’s something you’ll often hear our Apprenticeships & Development Team telling roomfuls of hopeful applicants at our assessment days.

They’re not joking. Of all those who apply, less than half are accepted on our four-year apprenticeship programme.

During recruitment we put each applicant through their paces, looking for the right attitude, the ability to work as part of a team, a mature outlook, exceptional time keeping, and a 100% commitment

to working and studying hard. We’re also looking ahead, talent-spotting the team leaders that apprenticeship applicants might become in four or five years’ time.

Successful recruits are trained in one of our training centres in Exeter, Bracknell, Birmingham, Gloucester, and from next year, Milton Keynes. Groups are kept small; around half the size you’d find at a further education college, so there’s always good support on offer.

The facilities in our classrooms are second to none. We give our apprentices well-rounded electrical training, where they’ll gain an Electrotechnical Advanced Diploma, while focusing on gaining the practical skills needed to wire new homes.

We put our new apprentices to work quickly. By day three, they’re on site, experiencing for themselves the conditions they’ll be working in. We review their progress constantly – the dedicated apprentice development team works closely with our lecturers and assessors so that feedback is consistently shared.

There’s also welfare support available

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for when life throws a curveball, and if our apprentices perform well during their training, we don’t cut them adrift once they’ve qualified – we help them make the transition to supervisory and leadership roles within the company.

Our approach to apprenticeships has won us a number of awards, most notably a Princess Royal Training Award in 2017 and a listing as a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer in the same year.

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When my son Alex expressed an interest in the electrical industry I had no hesitation in suggesting he spoke to Andy Wilson at Clarkson Evans.

I knew Alex would receive great training both on and off the job and would be part of a great team with Clarkson Evans.

He is now a year into his Apprenticeship and is really enjoying site life.

Rob Baker, Production Director, Taylor Wimpey Exeter

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Clarkson Evans’ approach to training is great to see.

Both the quantity of apprentices and the quality of the training provided at their excellent facility in Gloucester is first class.

No wonder then that the company won the Housebuilder Subcontractor of the Year in 2019. The commitment to training, continuous improvement and to attracting more people to the sector is impressive. It is a model that others could learn much from.

Roger Morton, Performance Director, Bovis Homes

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Class of 22

2019

This year’s graduating apprentices and their families celebrated in style at a dress-to-impress awards evening, complete with top-class entertainment from hilarious comedian, Justin Moorhouse and live music from local bands, Tommy and the Fuse at the April event, and The Sisterhood at the October ceremony.

Andy Wilson, our Head of Apprentice and Team Leader Development said: "I am so very proud of all who have completed their apprenticeship this year and it was great to see so many of them attending our awards evenings. In total we handed trophies to 57 newly qualified electricians and two former business administration apprentices from our Commercial team.

I’m delighted to have seen how far they

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have all come since they filled out their application form.

group, with many aspiring to be Site Supervisors and Area Managers."

Before joining us, many of our apprentices had jobs that left them feeling unfulfilled and with few career progression opportunities. Now I look forward to seeing them make the most of the careers and earnings potential now available to them. They’re an ambitious

"They should be immensely proud of what they’ve achieved - it’s such a tough apprenticeship and to have made it through is massive – Well done!" said MD Nathan Evans.

The whole evening was a great success and one that neither me nor my family will be forgetting any time soon!

Christian Kadach, Graduate in April 2019, now an Area Supervisor

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April

October 23

Class of 2009 Where are they now?

The Next Generation

After 18 months without any new apprentices (previously unheard of for us), we were delighted to welcome the new intake who enrolled during September. Originally due to join in 2008 but with the start of their careers delayed due to the recession, they’ve certainly waited a long time for their opportunity.

After what’s been a difficult period for everyone in our industry, we hope this is yet another sign that things are on the up.

Left to right: Mike Snook, Rakesh Mal, Jason Defreitas, Robert Turnbull, Josh Ellin, Dan Gregory, Scott Wilton, Ben Stone, Sam Underwood, Josh Jackson, Tom Coles, Liam Hynes, Janine Buzzo, Andrew Mott and James Peat.

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Ten years has flown by! We caught up with some of the classmates to discover the happiest memories of their apprenticeship, where they are now and where they hope to go next.

JOSH ELLIN

SAM UNDERWOOD

BEN STONE

JOSH JACKSON

Site Supervisor

Site Supervisor

Technical Supervisor

Site Supervisor

Highlight of the last 10 years: Opportunity to work in Bracknell for 18 months so could save for a house and holidays in Thailand and America

Best memory of the apprenticeship: Winning the Tony Martindale award for highest AM2 score at the annual Christmas party

Best memory of the apprenticeship: Being given responsibility for looking after a sub team for a busy team leader

Best memory of the apprenticeship: The whole thing! Always learning and confident that making a good career

Opportunities since qualifying: Being part of a team that won two Pride in the Job awards

Highlights of the last 10 years: Getting a mortgage, becoming a father, a stint as an Area Manager

Where next?

Staying on site for now – maybe go into the office when too old to keep up!

Where next?

Make money on site! Develop sub teams and perhaps become a lecturer

Other gains since qualifying: Earning the money to afford a deposit on a new home and holidays in Australia and America

Highlights of the last 10 years: Having daughters, getting married, buying a home and the long service award

Where next?

Progress career within the Clarkson Evans technical department

Where next?

Definitely at CE – hopefully progressing up the career ladder and taking on new sites

LIAM HYNES

RAKESH MAL

SCOTT PEERS

ANDY MOTT

Senior Site Supervisor

Site Manager for Galliers Homes

Senior Site Supervisor

Lecturer at Clarkson Evans

Best memory of the apprenticeship: Opportunity to take responsibility for a large block of flats

Highlight of the last 10 years: Making friends for life and after being turned down by others, being given a chance by Steve Evans (our Chairman)

Biggest opportunity of last 10 years: Temporary relocation to Crawleymanaged to save enough to buy a house!

Best memory of the apprenticeship: Winning Apprentice of the Year in 2010 and the Faraday Award in 2012 for academic achievement

Opportunities since qualifying: Becoming a site manager and winning a Pride in the Job award this year

Impact of working with us: Being driven in life, freedom and life experience

Highlights of last 10 years: Passing teaching diploma and becoming a lecturer

Where next?

Stay on the tools 'til the knees give way!

Where next?

Keep teaching!

Best thing about being qualified: Being able to afford a comfortable life, buy a house and give family a happy life Where next?

Very happy to stay on the tools

Where next?

Hoping to become a Contracts Manager

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Rewarding Loyalty

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We give all our staff Red Letter Day experiences when they hit loyalty milestones, but we felt that the ‘foot soldiers’ of the business deserved special recognition. Most of these electricians first joined us as apprentices, have worked long hours over the years and have generously shared their knowledge with countless young apprentices.

It was our MD, Nathan Evans, who came up with the idea for The Generals Club,

an exclusive club for site-based staff who’ve been on the tools with us for ten years or more.

In June, Nathan surprised them with a luxury gift box delivered to their doors and an invitation to an all-expenses paid VIP day at Cheltenham Cricket Festival. Since then, he’s wined and dined them at exclusive events, like the champagne party polo weekend, and at prestigious awards evenings. Nathan’s keen to get the Generals together for

informal social events too, so he’s welcomed them to big screen World Cup rugby matches, complete with slap-up breakfast and overnight accommodation.

Full access to our Corporate Golf Membership package at Celtic Manor Resort is available to all our Generals.

#yourebetteroffatclarksonevans

THE GENERALS CLUB

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Investing in

Management Development

A strong management team is vital to support our continued growth, so we’ve embarked on a long-term development plan, with this year’s highlight being our Managers’ Conference.

Our commitment to boosting management expertise started with hiring a highly experienced Organisational Development Manager, Rachel Marsh.

The first milestone achieved was the introduction of a new performance appraisal system in January. Then in March, we held a Managers’ Conference in Bristol which included a workshop

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delivered by interactive training specialists, Juice Learning. Actors illustrated challenging scenarios our managers often come across, portraying how best to quickly resolve any conflict, manage performance and maintain great relationships with our customers.

Based on staff feedback we’re creating a Managers’ Charter to set some clear expectations, as well as a set of company values so that we can maintain ‘The Clarkson Evans Way’. Both of these will be introduced early in 2020. A new regular newsletter for managers is also

in the pipeline, designed to improve the way we keep our senior staff informed about business changes, policies and development opportunities.

Next year and beyond, we plan to build our in-house learning and development capability to deliver a range of training days, themed workshops, discussions groups and informative webinars for our managers. We also have plans to design a new ‘Future Leaders’ programme to ensure our most talented staff have every opportunity to maximise their potential.

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Great session! Fun and interactive.

Everyone in the room was engaged and involved. The situations were definitely relevant to us Conference delegate

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I found the experience fantastic. You can easily put yourself in the situation when you can see it!

Conference delegate

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INTRODUCING

Rachel Marsh, OD Manager Rachel Marsh joined us as Organisational Development Manager in October 2018 and has been the driving force behind our investment in management training. With a postgraduate qualification in the Psychology of Organisational Development and Change, 15 years in various management roles herself and plenty of practical experience of coaching senior people, she’s well placed to teach anyone a thing or two about the role effective management plays in building a great team.

“

Really informative and well delivered.

I learnt so much.

Best conference to date.

Conference delegate

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Heavy rain showers and squally winds….the weather certainly wasn’t on our side for this year’s golf and activities day at Celtic Manor. But it didn’t stop our 300 guests from having a fabulous time playing golf or shooting arrows, throwing axes and relaxing in the spa, all followed by a thrilling evening’s entertainment.

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A big thank you for organising a fantastic day on Friday, I had the most enjoyable day followed by a lovely evening.

Bridget Warlow, Site Manager, Taylor Wimpey South Wales

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Thank you for a wonderful day/night and really appreciate the efforts you went to make us feel welcome.

Graeme Atkins, Senior Contracts Manager, Barratt Homes

“

The event was amazingly organised, and everyone was in high spirits. I think it was a credit to how organised Clarkson Evans are. Thank you for a great time.

Christian Massam, Site Manager Bellway Homes

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” “

A massive thanks from team NHBC, what a great day, it was staggeringly well organised.

David Kirkwood, Underwriting Development Manager, NHBC

OUR YEAR IN 1 MILLION LITRES OF FUEL

USED IN OUR FLEET OF VANS

NEW HOM

64

I N T H E J O B

SLICES OF TOAST E AT E N I N O U R C A N T E E N

Y E A R S WINNING

QUALIFIED APPRENTICES

ROSPA GOLD

AWARDS

N NUMBERS

MES WIRED ASTLINE CO

THE RACES

H ND T AR O U

U

’S

OUGH

C

O TO G E L B A

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AIDERS TRAINED IN 2019

P L O T

K

£ E

T H AT

EN

A DAY AT

MILLION

B A N K

11,069 MILES OF CABLE USED THIS YEAR

S T A F F ATTENDED

£

CONTRACTS S E C U R E D

Meteor Business Park, Cheltenham Road East, Gloucester, GL2 9QL 01452 530336

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