When I joined Jubb in January 2020 I knew it was a pivotal time for the business and I was being given a genuine opportunity to take a consultancy I had admired, throughout my career, in an exciting direction. Following the management buy-out in 2016, the leadership team had already made great in-roads in evolving our offering to enable us to take the strategic lead on projects right from the outset. By building on the team’s civils and structures expertise – with services now spanning transport planning and ground engineering – it’s meant that we’ve successfully widened our client base and the scope of works we’re undertaking.
The first project I took on was one I’m immensely proud of and demonstrates the benefits of us investing in these enhanced capabilities. The West Carclaze Garden Village project represented a new concept in community-focused schemes, at the time, and also brought our full design service to the fore.
We were called upon to provide civil, structural, geotechnical and transport advice to support this complex engineering development, which has since moved into phase 2 and is already home to a number of residents local to Cornwall. I grew up in Fowey so this project was especially pertinent to me – I’m passionate about placemaking and think it’s so important for design and build teams to be connected to the people living and working in the area. This is a stand-out West Country scheme for the Plymouth office, for this reason, and also because it is indicative of the strides being made in sustainable development. Comprising 1,500 highly energy efficient homes, set around five lakes, environmental concerns were clearly a top priority and we were pleased to help shape the scheme, in the best way possible, from a health, wellbeing and ‘greener’ perspective.
Indeed, increasing our knowledge and services as a carbon conscious engineering specialist is a firm and immediate focus. We understand that helping clients to minimise their impact is where we can add maximum value and it feels like we’re being given more reign in this respect. The conversations are finally moving away from cost and the preoccupation with operational carbon. With the emphasis switching to tackling embodied carbon there is an opportunity to explore lean design principles that reduce material usage and unnecessary excavation.
The truth is that real progress will be made only when the regulators step in, but anything purposeful we can do in the meantime to pave the way for a more sustainable future makes it an especially exciting time to be in engineering.
A big part of the piece is education. Mindsets are changing but the industry pace is too slow and the next generation of STEM graduates will demand much needed momentum. We actively encourage our young people to grow into the influential role they can adopt in the new world order. Our on-boarding process gears our employees up for a well earned place at the decision table – giving them the confidence to constructively challenge project outcomes through successful collaboration.
Jubb’s loyal client base has been established by us being a consultative, critical friend and we allow our people the freedom to forge their own expert opinion, supporting their transition to senior positions through a tailored learning pathway. It’s been a privilege to observe the team’s personal and professional growth since our People & Development Manager, Kirstie Williams, came to us and devised the programme. Not least to see equality, diversity and inclusion being wholeheartedly embraced more openly. As a dad to three daughters I believe it’s high time the long-standing barriers to women in engineering were lifted and it’s been encouraging to see a solid industry commitment to shifting the balance.
At Jubb, I’m inspired every day by a team that’s determined to make a difference and it’s rewarding to be in a position where I can empower our engineers to create a greener, fairer, more prosperous future for us all. If the last three years are anything to go by I can’t wait to see how much further we can go from here.
