Open Doors 2025
Last week, VolkerLaser welcomed students to three different sites as part of the annual Open Doors initiative.
Open Doors, delivered by Build UK, takes visitors behind the scenes of various construction sites to showcase the fantastic range of careers available in the UK construction industry.
This year, we invited local students to visit our sites in Newport, Chipping Warden and Oldbury.
Newport Transporter Bridge
On Monday 17 March, six students studying a Fabrication Welding Level 2 course at Coleg Gwent visited our site at the Newport Transporter Bridge. Accompanied by three staff members from the college, the students were welcomed by the site team, who delivered a presentation detailing the works we are undertaking on the project. They were also given the opportunity to ask the team questions about the works, their roles and responsibilities, and the career path they followed to reach the position they were in today.
After that, the students were taken to the site compound, where they were given a welding demonstration from representatives of Pro-Steel, our specialist contractor working alongside us on the project.
Chipping Warden
On Wednesday 19 March, we supported two visits to one of our HS2 projects alongside our client EKFB, a joint venture between Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall.
Each visit saw students from two local schools taken to site in a minibus, accompanied by one of our project managers who gave them an overview of the works taking place. After the tour, one of our degree apprentices spoke about his journey to date and his reasons for choosing an earn as you learn route over a traditional university course. To wrap up the visit, the students were tasked with building a bridge from straws and tape.
Oldbury
On Friday 21 March, we wrapped up our Open Doors visits by welcoming 15 students and two teachers from Tudor Grange High School to our site in Oldbury. Their visit began with a presentation about the business, careers in construction and a focus on the project itself. The students then changed into PPE before being given a safety briefing and taken up onto scaffolding in two groups. Whilst one group was on the scaffolding, the other was given the opportunity to have a question-and-answer session with some of our team, finding out what they loved about their job, what were the challenges, and how they chose their career path. After the site visit, it was back to the main site office where the students undertook our tower challenge – building the tallest tower, with the least number of bricks, in the shortest amount of time.
"Thank you all so much for your time today. The passion the team showed for their work at VolkerLaser really resonated with our students. The site visit was incredibly impactful, providing real world context for our student’s future career choices. The informative and relaxed atmosphere encouraged our students to ask insightful questions throughout the morning. These trips provide invaluable practical education, showcasing achievable career options and opening our students’ minds to the breadth of, in this case, the construction world. This is vital in ensuring all our students, regardless of background, can explore their potential. Without employers like yourselves this would not be possible.”
Karen McStay Careers advisor at Tudor Grange High School
