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CIC 2050 Group Speed Mentoring pilot hailed a great success

Posted: 5th June 2014

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) 2050 Group’s Speed Mentoring event, hosted at the offices of Gardiner & Theobald, in Central London, last night, was hailed as a brilliant idea and a great success by mentees and mentors alike.

From 6.00pm to 9.00pm young industry professionals were given unfettered access to some of the built environment’s leading experts, who volunteered to be mentors for this pilot event. Mentees were able to ask questions and talk about individual career paths, opportunities, experiences and the challenges facing the industry going forward.

With just 15 minutes allocated to each of their two requested and one ‘wild card’ mentor (someone in a different built environment profession) the mentees made full use of this one-to-one time. It was an animated evening and as the sessions drew to a close, everyone was invited to have a drink and to carry on networking. Here’s what some had to say:

I’ve not done anything like this before, but it was a really fantastic event and a great way to meet a mix of people very, very quickly. It gets you thinking about your career and what you might do next. Really flexible in terms of what questions you might ask and where the conversation might go.”

“The event was brilliant. Very helpful and informative and it’s given me some good ideas of where I want to go in my career. It’s been brilliant for me.”

“I thought it was a great event, lots of fun, and with a range of different people with different perspectives, so as a mentor I probably got more out of it than the mentees did!”

“I’d absolutely do it again, it was really good fun. The people were really enjoyable to talk to, delightful, it was really nice. It’s very exciting. All of the sessions could have gone on for longer but the fact that they had to come to a conclusion gave it an excitement and energy. We could have all carried on talking for longer but maybe with another five minutes we might have run out of steam.” |

Louise Clarke (Chair of the CIC 2050 Group) declared the concept of speed mentoring as a great idea for bringing the generations closer together: “This evening has exceeded our expectations. It is vital for those new to the sector to be able to benefit from the experiences of those who are preceding them. I am delighted with this evening’s pilot event and the CIC 2050 Group will now start work on getting speed mentoring on to the agendas of companies and institutions throughout the UK“.

Mentors: Jack Pringle, Managing Director, Pringle Brandon Perkins+Wills; Tony Burton, Senior Partner, Gardiner & Theobald LLP; Sarah Fray, Engineering & Technical Services Director, IStructE; Tim Chapman Director ARUP; Greg Craig, Managing Director, Skanska; John Connaughton, Professor of Sustainable Systems in the Built Environment, University of Reading; Richard Saxon, CBE; Ruth Reed, Architect and Director, Green Planning Studio Ltd; John Eynon, Managing Director, Open Water Constulting Ltd; David Miller, Director & Principal Architect, David Miller Architects; Vaughan Burnand, Managing Director VEB Lean Ltd; Bob Sharpe, Engineering Manager, London Underground; Jason J Speechly-Dick, Director of Architecture, ATKINS Global; Anthony Peter, Project Director, Argent LLP; Simon Rawlinson, Head of Strategic Research, EC Harris LLP; Jane Richards, Director WSP; Chris Welch, Partner Gardiner & Theobald LLP; Andrew Link, Chief Operating Officer, CIC.

Mentees came from across the sector and included employees of Arup, Buro Happold, Skanska, UK Green Building Council, GVA, WSP, John Lewis Partnership Property Services, Gardiner & Theobald, Turner & Townsend, Property Pathfinders Ltd and an independent BIM Consultant.