Daryl’s story: From Apprentice Bricklayer to Assistant Site Manager in just five years

Although he’s now been working on Taylor Wimpey sites for the past five years, Assistant Site Manager Daryl Forbes says he still learns something new every day.

Gaining new skills and hands-on experience, as well as benefiting from in-house training, has been the story of his career to date, enabling him to progress quickly from Apprentice Bricklayer to his current role.

“Every day you’re working you’re learning something new, as there’s so much that goes on in construction,” Daryl (24) explains. “I’ve also been on lots of training courses, either at head office or organised on site, covering things like health and safety, scaffolding, plant, groundworks – there’s so much to learn.”

It’s helped that Daryl’s been given the chance to experience the job at a range of Taylor Wimpey developments – firstly Assistant Site Manager at The Meadows in Keynsham, then spending a year at Kings Copse in Gloucester, and now at the housebuilder’s West Point development in Swindon.

“These developments are some of the busiest sites we’ve got so there’s always something new happening,” says Daryl. “Having worked on three sites you see the different ways that Site Managers operate, and the various specifications required for different housetypes.

“At the two previous sites I’ve been dealing more with finishing houses, through to meeting the customers and providing aftercare once they’ve moved in.

“At West Point, where we’ve just moved into the second phase, I’m going to be dealing more with the production side of things – when the roads go in, groundworks, the external build of the houses – which will give me additional experience.”

Off-site, Daryl’s also notched up some industry qualifications, supported by Taylor Wimpey, gaining an NHBC (National House-Building Council) NVQ Level 4 in Construction Site Supervision last year to add to his NVQ Level 3 in Bricklaying.

It’s a long way from the bricklaying course at the City of Bristol College’s Ashley Down Centre, which put him forward for his original Taylor Wimpey apprenticeship back in 2011.

Daryl can now pass on the benefits of experience to the new apprentices working on site – and they can take inspiration from the fact that he was once a trade apprentice like them.

He continues to show the commitment and work ethic which was recognised by Taylor Wimpey early on, being happy to go the extra distance for his work – literally, as he now commutes from his home in Bristol to work in Swindon each day.

“It’s good to be getting new experience even if I have to travel for it,” he says. “It was nice working on the doorstep but I’m happy to go that extra mile to progress in my career.”

Daryl’s CV

  • 2010 – Starts NVQ Level 1 Bricklaying course at City of Bristol College Ashley Down Centre
  • 2011 – Recruited as Trade Apprentice by Taylor Wimpey
  • 2014 – Promoted to Trainee Assistant Site Manager by Taylor Wimpey
  • 2015 – Promoted to Assistant Site Manager by Taylor Wimpey
  • 2015 – Achieves NHBC NVQ Level 4 in Construction Site Supervision
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