Roddy Webster

About my job

I left the Royal Navy on 12^th July 2014 after 5 years service. I decided I wanted to change career while I was still relatively young at 24 years old. While serving my year notice period I complete a Prince2 course and a management and leadership course to broaden my CV. I was looking to enter “civvy street” in a junior management position, I was due promotion in the Navy and wanted to try and maintain my level of earnings and responsibility. My main concern was that a lot of my training and qualifications were not valid as a civilian.

I enjoyed the Prince2 course and began to research my options in the construction industry. During my research I found an article on construction management which looked like something I would enjoy. I also felt that I had transferrable skills which would suit the role. It was obvious that the industry was picking up as there were a number of advertisements for various roles within the construction industry.

Taylor Wimpey’s  advert for an apprentice site manager caught my eye on a job site, it looked a great opportunity and would allow me to start a fresh with no previous experience necessary. I sent my CV and managed to get an interview, the interview went well and felt much more relaxed than previous interviews.

I began my training at Manor Rise in Tidworth, Taylor Wimpey took over as Principal Contractor on the day I start which was great as I could learn from the beginning instead of starting on a site that was partially complete.I learned about Health and Safety on site and policed Taylor Wimpey’s policies, I also spent a large amount of time inducting and directing trades on site and learning to “snag” homes.

After approximately 7 months I was moved to a larger site in Andover to allow me to experience different approaches to site management. The site in Andover was 5 years in to a 10 year project, I was given more responsibility and taught how to call of materials and how to write a programme. Eventually I was given a number of homes to manage from first fix through to customer handover and conduct 7 day and 28 day visits. I also dealt with customer care on site. Eventually I was involved in the whole customer journey from “Meet the Builder” through to handover and aftercare, this was extremely rewarding as it allowed me to build a relationship with the customer and help them achieve their dream of living in a Taylor Wimpey home.

Taylor Wimpey have allowed me to have an input into my training and are always flexible if I want to alter the training programme to aid my development. I am currently based at Head Office to increase my knowledge of all departments involved in building Taylor Wimpey homes before going back to site as an Assistant Site Manager.