11 / 01 / 2021

Our Midlands team has provided Assistant Quantity Surveyor Jordan Bird with a career path in the construction industry as part of its trainee scheme, allowing her to progress from a temporary role to her current position in seven-years.  

Jordan, 26, from Coventry, originally joined Lovell as a Project Administrator in 2013 on a temporary contract shortly after passing her A-Levels. After demonstrating strong organisational skills and a willingness to learn new tasks and responsibilities, her contract was extended several times before she progressed to becoming a permanent member of staff.

After becoming interested in the commercial aspect of the job, she advanced within the company to become a Trainee Quantity Surveyor in 2017, and then into her current role of Assistant Quantity Surveyor in 2019, where she currently works as part of the commercial team on refurbishment projects.

Jordan assists on several contracts across the Midlands region, including those for Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Warwick District Council and Midland Heart Housing Group.

Recently, Jordan has been tasked with showing newly appointed Assistant Quantity Surveyor Bethany Castle the ropes, allowing Jordan to develop as a trainer and share her knowledge and experience.

Alongside working at Lovell, Jordan is studying part time at Wolverhampton University towards a degree in Quantity Surveying, following a successful higher apprenticeship in Construction Management and Built Environment. During her training scheme, Jordan enjoys being able to study whilst learning on the job, as this enables her to see and experience first-hand situations she is learning about at University.

Jordan said: “I love my job, there’s something different happening every day. I was always interested in the commercial side of things and it’s been great to be able to move into that part of the business.

“I’m really enjoying working at Lovell. Everyone has been very supportive and encouraging, especially when I have expressed a desire to learn new skills and get involved in more and more aspects of the contract administration and planning. Every time I have shown that I want to learn more and make progress, Lovell has made it happen.

“Lovell has been like a family. It’s great place to work, with no restrictions on where your ambitions can take you. Lovell offers excellent progression opportunities with extensive training so there is always something to learn and work towards. There are numerous senior management employees who have started as trainees in the business, which gives me motivation to work hard and chase opportunities to progress.

“There is a great deal of mentorship and training available and help to guide you in the right direction to achieve individual career plans. The support I get from my managers has really helped me with my own progression within the company.

“It’s great to see other women in senior roles too, which has inspired me to work towards that myself, and I don’t feel like my gender holds me back in any way, regardless of construction generally being a male-dominated industry.”

Carl Yale, regional refurbishment director, commented: “I am very proud of Jordan; it’s been extremely satisfying watching her develop. She has a great attitude and quickly demonstrated her ability. It is great as an employer when we can create employment opportunities for people, but they need to take these opportunities. Jordan has worked extremely hard, is very well respected by her colleagues, supply chain and clients, and she has a very bright future ahead of her.”

Stuart Penn, regional managing director at Lovell, added: “At Lovell, it’s important to us to invest in developing raw talent and we love offering our trainees the opportunity to flourish within the industry. Many of the current senior management team in the Midlands came through these training programs and alongside this we value the importance of having a team of diverse and talented individuals.

“I’d like to thank Jordan for her continued hard work and dedication to Lovell. Throughout her entire career progression, she has shown a consistent desire to further develop herself and her skill set and is a positive influence on her colleagues. I’m looking forward to seeing her advance within Lovell as she works towards gaining her degree and beyond.”

Jordan is now looking forward to completing her degree and continue working towards progressing her role to Quantity Surveyor, with longer term goals of becoming Managing Quantity Surveyor at Lovell.

To find out more about the careers and trainee schemes available at Lovell visit https://corporate.lovell.co.uk/our-people/careers/.