Please tell us a bit about yourself!

I have been in East Yorkshire now for 20 years, I moved up North from Somerset. I’m relatively new at Dortek, I started last September, my background prior to Dortek was very much site-based, working in the M&E sector on all commercial projects. A considerable amount of the work involved office fit-out and pharmaceutical warehouses.

What first inspired you into the engineering and architectural industry?

From a young age I always liked drawing, the only subject I was good at when I was at school was art and technology, I went on further to study aspects of design at university. I studied interior and landscape, architectural, which I graduated in with a bachelor honour. 

As an apprentice I worked within an architectural practice. From then on I knew I had a passion for construction, it was just finding the right sector within the industry. I’m very interested in the way things are put together. Whether it was playing with Lego as a kid or having a passion for buildings and the environments they sit within. Fulfilling my desire to combine creativity with practicality and problem solving, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else at the time, I knew it was the career choice for me. 

What made you want to work for Dortek?

I was looking for a new challenge, a new chapter, everyone has personal goals to reach and I had a good feel for Dortek on my initial interview. I felt Dortek was going to push my career forward to where I was aiming to be and what I wanted to achieve. 

In my previous employment, for seven years, I worked away from home so having a perfect balance of site and office working now I’m at Dortek is great. 

How has COVID affected your role within Dortek?

I think COVID has been very challenging, especially within the construction industry; health and safety for contractors and everyone working on site is a huge factor. For the first couple of months at the company, I was on site shadowing engineers. Installing doors with face coverings or shields can be difficult at times, I found it was no longer the case of just turning up and starting work anymore, you need to be prepared with the testing procedures prior to arriving and on the day of arrival. 

Sites are very busy and can be very populated, working through a pandemic you always needed to use you own personal judgment. However, I strongly believe many contractors have developed new methods for delivering projects and ways to keep people communicating effectively whilst working together on a project. 

What do you like about working with Dortek?

It’s a very busy atmosphere working on Dortek’s project management team, which I love. I learnt very quickly that every day can be very different, dealing with numerous clients can be challenging yet extremely exciting and rewarding. As much as this opportunity came as a huge learning curve to me, the help and support I received from everyone within the team has been outstanding. Everyone has taken the time in some way to help me grow within the company. You really couldn’t have asked for better colleagues. 

What are your interests outside of work?

My two-year-old son keeps me very much on my toes, I follow rugby league, Hull Kingston rovers especially, so finally being able to take my son this year to a few home games will be a proud moment to share with him. I try to keep as active as possible swimming, mountain biking, and the odd game of 5 a-side-football.

Away from sport, me and my partner seem to be passing ships with her career as a nurse so whenever possible we like to get away from home, spending weekends exploring different places like the coast, Lake District and pretty much anywhere that has a good country pub. A few trips abroad are definitely well overdue, which we hope to make this year.