Newsletter – Q4 2023

Hello and a happy new year from all at Rodgers Leask. Welcome back to our quarterly newsletter – the best place to hear about the projects, events and networking that kept us busy during the final quarter of 2023.

As always, don’t forget, we’re also interested to hear what you are all working on and if we can support you. To get in touch with one of our team, make sure to email us using rlladmin@rodgersleask.co.uk or call on 01332 285000. 

To be the first to hear more news as it happens, follow us on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rodgers-leask-ltd/ 

Behind the scenes 

Within Q4 we had a graduation within our Civil Engineering team in Bristol – congratulations Ahmad Helmi!

Ahmad graduated in November with a master’s degree in engineering for Sustainable Development from the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University. He achieved an amazing 70% in his dissertation, which focused on the leadership of smart city projects.

A huge congratulations to Ahmad for this impressive achievement and we look forward to seeing how he develops throughout his career at our consultancy.

If you know someone who may benefit from our fantastic graduate opportunities, share the link to our website here: https://rodgersleask.com/careers/

We attended multiple careers fairs in the East Midlands as the 2023-24 academic year kicked off!

The first stop was Nottingham Trent University with Peter Sparham and Junaid Ahmed at the Built Environment Careers Fair in the Alumni spot. Next, Nick Fenton and Will Cole visited Loughborough University’s Building and Infrastructure Careers Fair. Finally, University of Nottingham alumni Matthew Koren and Sanjay Jethwa returned to campus for the Building and Infrastructure Careers Fair.

The team talked to many students about the diverse range of careers available within the built environment industry, answered their questions on engineering consultancy and let them know about the graduate opportunities at Rodgers Leask. It was a successful careers fair circuit, with some of our team able to connect with some familiar faces from their university days.

Embracing the festive spirit, all of our offices participated in our Christmas Jumper Day in December. We dressed up to raise money for Save the Children UK – which operates in more than 100 countries across homes, nurseries, schools and communities to help children out of poverty.

Thank you to all our colleagues who donated, it was an incredible charitable effort to end 2023. In 2024, everyone will be provided two days paid leave to take part in local volunteering and fundraising works. We look forward to seeing which charities and initiatives each member of our team gets involved in.

Industry insights

Our business ambassador Andy Leask presented our Derby Market Hall project to the East Midlands branch of the Institution of Structural Engineers at the Kegworth Hotel and Conference Centre in November.

The Derby Market Hall project, a repair and refurbishment operation to transform the Grade II listed building into a contemporary and vibrant shopping destination, won the ‘Best Renovation or Heritage Project’ at the Institution of Structural Engineers’ East Midland Region Awards in February 2023.

Andy talked about the history of the building, his childhood memories of the Market Hall and provided insight into the numerous technical and practical challenges the refurbishment has presented to the design team.

To read more about the project, read on here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/11/15/derby-market-hall/

Our directors Kriston Harvey, Howel Morris, Kully Toor, and associate director Matt Harrison will be attending UKREiiF 2024 following a successful trip in 2023 to the Royal Armouries Leeds and Leeds Dock. They will be representing our infrastructure engineering, geo-environmental engineering, structural engineering and transport planning capabilities respectively.

On why UKREiiF is such a beneficial event for the public sector, Kriston said: “It’s an excellent opportunity to keep up to date with the pipeline of public sector projects and explore opportunities to support these where we feel we can add value. Also, it offers the time to share thoughts on common challenges, like new legislation and an over-stretched planning system.”

Howel will be attending the event for the first time in 2024 and said: “I anticipate having conversations with potential clients and making it clear that Rodgers Leask has the necessary skills and experience to deliver major real estate projects. It is a great opportunity to present our skills as an SME engineering consultant to significant organisations in the real estate market.”

To find out more about our 2024 UKREiiF attendance, read more here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/12/15/rodgers-leask-returns-to-ukreiif-in-2024/

In the community

The Construction Race Day at Nottingham Racecourse was attended by our principal engineer Matthew Koren and Nottingham’s regional director Peter Sparham. The day was enjoyed by all with the weather not dampening spirits and another fantastic opportunity to connect with our fellow peers in the construction industry over lunch and top-class horseracing.

Our colleagues in the Bristol office went to meetspaceVR for a night of team building and fending off zombies! The combined score for the office was 540,020, for any offices elsewhere wanting to beat them in the VR game. The evening ended with a stop at the Hop Union Brewery Tap Room for a well-deserved drink after all the zombie-slaying action.

In November our civil engineer apprentice Junaid Ahmed hosted the YP Connect Pool Tournament in Nottingham alongside Adam Dodd, a trainee framework manager at Willmott Dixon. The event is to bring young professionals in the construction industry together for networking and to start building strong relationships to sustain throughout their careers.

More than 30 young professionals attended the tournament which ended with Chord Consult winning the cup and Pick Everard winning the shield. Thank you to Junaid for hosting and representing Rodgers Leask, we hope future events are met with similar success.

To end the year, several of our directors hosted a table at the Interact East Midlands Christmas Lunch in Derby at the Pride Park stadium. Interact is a forum established in Nottingham for senior property professionals to share knowledge, ideas, and opportunities. It was a fantastic afternoon catching up with our contacts across the East Midlands and establishing new relationships. We are looking forward to the upcoming Interact events in 2024, which are always key dates in the diary.