The annual CIOB Tomorrow’s Leaders London and South Bright Futures Student Challenge (BFSC) once again proved that there is a wealth of talent ready and waiting to come into the construction Industry.
Teams from universities and colleges in London and the south, all studying construction-based courses, came together in March to showcase their skills and knowledge to try to win the title of BFSC 2022 Champions.
The competition, which was sponsored by VolkerFitzpatrick, was based around its £29m The Apex project for client Reef Group – one of six mixed-use new builds forming the Tribeca development in the heart of King’s Cross.
The teams were invited on a site tour then had to give a 10-minute presentation to a panel of judges on a question about the project.
After two rounds of presentations the team from University of West London – Eliass Arfal, Lewis Cain, Alex March and Lewis Mayley – were announced as the winners. The Royal School of Military Engineering team – Shaun Bladen, Nathan Cowley, Greg McCormack and Charlie Pengilley – came in a close second.
Two students went away with the knowledge that they stood out from the crowd. Chris Willetts (University of Brighton) was recognised as Outstanding Student of the day and was presented with a trophy, certificate, voucher and an opportunity for a week of work experience with VolkerFitzpatrick. Lewis Cain (University of West London) was recognised as Highly Commended and will also have the opportunity to accept work experience with VolkerFitzpatrick.
The judges were: Malcolm Clarke, managing director, Baxall; Jo Elder, director, We are Spaces; Karl Crisp, senior operations manager, Willmott Dixon; Joshua Waterman, associate director, Turner and Townsend. Four judges were from VolkerFitpatrick: Rakesh Chavda, senior project manager (The Apex); Anthony Clarke, operations manager; Stuart Deverill, managing director, Building Division; John O’Grady, divisional commercial director.
