Leiths

From analysing fake CV’s, to piloting excavation simulators, the students in the 2023/24 Build Your Future programme have had their fair share of excitement.

The Build Your Future programme, which Leiths have been supporting since its inception, aims to educate and excite students across the North East of Scotland about a career in construction. Something we at Leiths are passionate about encouraging.

The latest edition of the programme began in November 2023, where schools competed against each other in challenges produced by a wide variety of professionals in our industry. These challenges are delivered live and streamed into schools across the country from Mearns & Gill in Aberdeen (see photo top right). 

From L to R - Representative from Mearns & Gill; and from Leiths: Coral-Ann Birnie, Contracts Administrator, and Ross Fotheringham, Bid Writer.

In these heats we presented the students with a fake CV challenge, where they were given 3 CV’s for an open position at Leiths. Based on these CV’s, the job description, and some required criteria, they were tasked with producing a compelling case for their chosen candidate. Other challenges included the settlement of a litigation dispute, and the design of a dream home. The points were tallied, and the sound system at Mearns and Gill erupted with the excited cheers of this year’s finalists, who now had their ticket to Pittodrie Stadium.

“Doing the CV evaluations was fun, getting to judge the qualities they had and picking the best candidate. Before I thought it was just about building, but now I kind of realise that there’s a lot more than that. And it’s got me thinking maybe I would like a job like that.”

Fast forward to the morning of 25 of January 2024, where buses rolled up outside Pittodrie stadium. The event begun and Leiths, manning two stations, were hit with their first wave of kids. We had brought an excavation simulator that rotated and vibrated, allowing for a realistic demonstration of an excavator transporting materials across site. The more material they could gather, the more points they received (see photo bottom right). 

“I was on the excavator simulator, and it was very nerve-wracking. It felt real, VERY real. Like you were in it, with the vibrations and everything.

Our other station, thoughtfully produced by the technical laboratory team at Leiths, tasked students with creating a dam. They were given a short educational presentation, which contained some helpful clues for the challenge ahead. They were then presented with an assortment of materials from our very own Blackhills Quarry and had to construct the most effective dam possible to ensure the safe evacuation of the ‘village’ at the bottom of their trays.

As the day wound down, the points were tallied, with the winner of the competition taking home some cash for their school and a trophy made from our very own Blackhills Granite.

Ultimately the final placement went as follows. In 3^rd place was Inverurie Academy. In 2^nd place was Aboyne Academy. And a huge congratulations to our 2023/24 Build Your Future winner Banchory Academy.

A huge thank you to all at Leiths who helped make this event special, one which looks as though it will live long in the mind of the students, your support is appreciated. A huge thank you also to CITB and GCT who contributed to the funding, all of the teachers, all of the industry professionals, and the media team at Mearns and Gill for running and organising the event.  We feel great pride in doing our bit to inspire the next generation and we intend to continue participating in this great programme.