W M Donald picked up the Inspiring Futures award at this year's Northern Star Business Awards, and were presented the title by sponsors Robert Gordon's College.
For W M Donald, the sustainability of the civil engineering industry is of paramount importance, which is why its leaders took action to make it an industry that appeals to future generations.
The family-owned firm of civil engineering contractors led the way, resulting in a host of presentations and seminars at schools across the North-east, the development of placement schemes and apprentice days, as well as the establishment of a two-year apprenticeship scheme with North East Scotland College (NESCol)
Taking a proactive approach to filling the skills gap, W M Donald sought and welcomed engagement with organisations including Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), Career Ready, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), NESCol, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils.
The apprenticeship scheme in particular represents a major step change in skills training in the region and even saw them reach out to industry rivals to make it succeed.
It all started when W M Donald successfully recruited eleven apprentices in 2021. The apprentices were, and continue to be, supported in many ways including getting to Glasgow College for their block release, as there was no suitable construction apprenticeship scheme locally.
Raising concerns about the lack of availability of the program in the North-east, W M Donald’s was instrumental in the reintroduction of a civil engineering foundation course.
Just two years later, W M Donald has 26 civil engineering apprentices and four graduate civil engineering apprentices in the business.
W M Donald said: “This challenge was taken on and overcome by using our influence within the industry and by reaching out to our competitors, we were able to offer them places on the College courses. These were taken up by some of the other companies and the feedback regarding their experiences with the apprentices has been equally as positive as ours.”
The Finalists
- Aberlour Futures
- Build Your Future
- Stork
- TechFest
About the sponsor
Robert Gordon’s College is an independent co-educational nursery and day school in the heart of Aberdeen for children aged three to 18 years.