Climbing the career ladder with Lovell

20-year-old Jacob Scott has been rewarded for his great work over the last two years with a promotion at Lovell’s South Wales and South West division.

Having completed the housebuilder’s trainee site management programme, which he embarked on as a teenager, and gaining his NVQ Level 6 Site Management qualification in January this year, Cardiff resident Jacob has now been promoted to assistant site manager.

“I’ve always wanted to work in construction, even since high school, so it’s brilliant to be working as an assistant site manager when I’m only 20,” he says. “What I like about the job is the variety: each day, you never know what’s going to happen on site and what challenges you are going to face. As well as technical knowledge, you need a lot of different skills, including the ability to plan ahead and manage your time effectively.

“It’s important to be a good communicator and negotiator who knows how to talk to all sorts of people and you also have to be able to cope with the serious responsibility of looking after the safety of the workforce and the public. I like the satisfaction you get at the end of a job when you can stand back and admire what you’ve achieved after all the hard work that’s gone into it.”

Jacob has been working on Lovell’s 250-unit development Loftus Garden Village – a joint venture with Pobl Group in the heart of Newport – and other schemes in Bristol and Gloucestershire, and sees the benefits of the career path he’s chosen. ““As a trainee with Lovell, I’ve been able to earn while gaining experience, meeting new people from all different trades and backgrounds and having the chance to learn from them,” he adds. “In my new role, my aim is to gain as much experience as possible and keep learning.”

Lovell regional managing director Kate Rees says: “As a company, we believe it’s our responsibility to nurture young people like Jacob with the talent and drive the industry needs. It’s been very rewarding to see how he has made the most of his time on our site management trainee programme to the point where he is ready to step into an extremely demanding role. Many people from the company have played a part in helping his development by providing him with encouragement and mentoring support.

“I’m confident Jacob will thrive in his new position and we look forward to helping him as he moves on to the next stage in what I am sure will be a very successful career.”