Brooke Weston

Representatives from the multi-million pound construction company Kier Marriott will be working alongside students at Brooke Weston, to give them an insight into the building industry.

The students, who are in the first year of a new Construction in the Built Environment Diploma, will benefit from the expertise of Kier Marriott employees and it is hoped that, as well as having lectures in the classroom, they will be able to visit Kier sites.

Michelle Dean, the HR and Training Manager, and Darren Ferry, Planning and Environmental Manager, met up with Mr Jonathan Browne from Brooke Weston and Ms Georgina Burton from Tresham College who are delivering the CBE diploma as a joint initiative. The meeting, which was organised by Laura Rawlings of Connexions, focussed on ways in which Kier Marriott could help support the students' learning in all aspects of the diploma.

Ms Dean said: 'There's many ways in which Kier Marriott can help out; by giving work experience or running mock interviews. It would be great if we could help the Brooke Weston students have a great all-round experience.'

Kier Marriott were involved in formulating the CBE Diploma, so the liaison with Brooke Weston means they will be able to monitor the course as it gets rolled out at grass-roots level.

Mr Ferry said: 'There's so many different disciplines within Kier Marriott. Our work for the Rushden arm ranges from £100,000 to £75 million. This link with Brooke Weston is an opportunity for us to get some of our younger colleagues to come out and present concepts to students.'

It is a partnership welcomed by Brooke Weston and Tresham College. Ms Burton said: 'The whole point of the diploma is that it's schools, colleges and businesses working together. We can start to educate students from a younger age that construction is actually a really rewarding, diverse and satisfying career. If they are doing work for someone from the industry then it's going to add more credence to the work they are doing, it's real life potential for development.'