It’s #NationalApprenticeshipWeek. And if you know us, you’ll know it’s a subject close to our hearts.
Meet Taylor Dunk – one of 9 BGES apprentices learning the ropes of the building controls industry with us. Taylor is a former Dinnington High School student and got to know BGES Group through our careers partnership with them, ultimately securing a place on the BCIA BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship.
BEMS stands for Building Energy Management Systems – they play a crucial role in efficient control of a building’s plant – such as HVAC, lighting and power systems.
Taylor currently spends most of his time at our busy Energy and Control Centre (which provides remote support for hundreds of sites!) as well as regular scheduled site visits to put his learning into practise.
On Friday, Taylor was on site at a hospital with BGES Service Engineer Sam Haston. Sam visits the hospital twice a week as part of our PPM (planned preventative maintenance) service – to keep everything working as efficiently as it should. On this visit, Taylor was helping to fix an issue with one of the air handling units, and also installing a new user interface to give the estates team greater visibility.
Tackling the skills gap
Building controls is a fast-growing market with numerous opportunities for skilled engineers. Taylor’s apprenticeship is helping to address an industry wide shortage of BEMS Controls Engineers who will use the skills they learn today to keep the buildings of tomorrow running efficiently.
Taylor says: “There is no substitute for hands on learning and I love getting out on site and putting what I’ve learned into practise.”
We love to hear from school leavers (and career changers!) interested in a building controls career – and we’ve opportunities in our Sheffield and London offices. If that’s you, get in touch.