Category Archives: Skills and recruitment

This is Engineering Day, taking place today on 4th November, is organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering to raise awareness of what engineers really do and celebrate those who are shaping the world we live in. This year the theme is #BeTheDifference. 

Engineering is a critical part of the UK economy, employing around 20 per cent of the total workforce and generating approximately 23 per cent of the UK’s total turnover. Yet according to Engineering UK, there is a considerable shortage of appropriately skilled workers in the engineering sector. In 2017, vacancies in construction went up to 27 per cent.  

Engineering is an exciting, varied and rewarding career however there is a shortage of younger people applying for engineering courses and engineering jobs in the UK. One of the prime reasons for this is that many young people are unsure what engineering is and what engineers do. This is Engineering campaign provides information by showing examples of real engineers and presenting a positive image of modern engineering 

At JCA, we are passionate about our people as we are about the creativity and imagination of our engineering. We support apprenticeships as they assist our talent strategy and allow us to recruit, retain and develop those who want to progress their careers and be equipped with skills for life. We also support diversity in engineering and encourage women to enter this exciting and fulfilling career path. In the February issue of Facilities Management Journal (FMJ), we shared JCA’s approach to tackling the skills gap in the engineering sector. 

You may want to read:

• Technical talent – FMJ, February 2020
• We support women in engineering
• We support apprenticeships
• JCA celebrates 16th anniversary

International Women in Engineering Day 2020 takes place on Tuesday 23rd June and is an international awareness day to support, inspire, celebrate and raise the profile of women in engineering. It is an opportunity to draw attention to the careers in engineering for young people and to celebrate the achievements of women engineers.

The theme this year is #ShapeTheWorld, inspired by UNESCO’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The UK National Commission for UNESCO is also this year’s INWED partner.

Celebrating women in engineering at JCA

To celebrate the International Women in Engineering Day, we asked a few of our female colleagues working in different roles about their experiences of working in engineering/maintenance industry.

Kirsty Eyles, JCA Lead Water Technician at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital:

“Being the only female JCA engineer at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital presents a great challenge and opportunity to break into a field underrepresented by women. Engineering is fun, challenging, innovative and fast-moving. It is about seeing a problem and being creative about solving it, then working together as a team to get the job done. It is about trying it out, and then pushing your idea that bit further…

I would encourage women who dare to take up a challenge and win, to risk entering a men dominated career field. In my experience, women often think they cannot do certain technical tasks when faced with something they have never done before, while men assume they can. When I look around me, I see women engineers in many fields: mechanical, electrical, structural, materials, software… Anything is possible.”

Tina McGennity, H&S Manager:

“I work on a number of construction and maintenance sites. Construction has always been considered ‘a male dominated’ environment but working at JCA, who employ two female Health & Safety managers, I am treated with respect and equality by everyone within the company, our contractors and clients.

In 2018 I won the SHP Biggest Impact Award for Health and Safety. This proves that women can excel in the industry and you can achieve your goals through hard work, dedication and commitment.”

Anna Stillman, Commercial Manager and Company Secretary:

“Dealing with commercial and contractual issues, I’m not on the front line of engineering and maintenance but, having worked in this sector for many years, I can honestly say that I don’t think about being a woman in a male dominated sector.

My perception is that the work I do is more important to my colleagues, customers and others I deal with than my gender.”

Andrea Baxter, Administration Manager:

“I’ve been working as business support to the engineering sector from around 2011.  Yes, the engineering industry is a male dominated sector, but there have always been a few women interspersed, like diamonds in the sand. They can be rare, but it has always been good to see them, passionate about what they do and excelling at their jobs.

To see more women slowly moving into the engineering sector is really exciting – It has always said to me that you can be anything you want to be.”

Pippa Dimsdale, Contracts Manager, MSD division:

“As a woman rising through the ranks in a “male dominated industry”, I have been pleasantly surprised by how accepting my male peers have been and how they have aided me to achieve success. I don’t feel like being a woman has hindered me in anyway, if anything, it encouraged me to work harder and show the industry that woman can offer so much with the right training and knowledge.

I would encourage any young females considering a role in the industry to take the jump as the rewards of working in a fast-paced, ever developing industry far outweigh any challenges!”

To find out more about International Women in Engineering Day 2020, visit their website: http://www.inwed.org.uk/ 

The everywoman network have provided a list of free to access resources to support International Women in Engineering Day include a selection of articles, webinars and other assets and you can access it here.

To get involved on Twitter, search hashtags #INWED20 and #ShapeTheWorld

Want to know more about what it’s like to work for JCA? Read our employees’ testimonials here and find out more about what JCA stands for here.

At JCA we are passionate about what we do and the diversity of our people. We support apprenticeships as they assist our talent strategy and allow us to recruit, retain and develop those who want to progress their careers and be equipped with skills for life. We ensure that both the educational and work activities are planned well in advance for our apprentices, so that joining us is a great experience.  

Introducing apprentices to all areas of the business and ensuring that all expectations are achieved are vital in the first few months to continue with the development of our new employees. It is a momentous journey and a great opportunity so we heavily invest our time and resources to create the best possible outcomes for our apprentices.

Meet our apprentice

To celebrate this year’s National Apprenticeships Week, we caught up with Jack Kemp, our Building Services Apprentice to find out why he decided to start an apprenticeship and how he’s been enjoying it so far. Jack works at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, one of JCA’s resident maintenance sites in London. The estate includes the main site at Fulham Road as well as several smaller clinics in the area. Service provision includes planned preventive, reactive and building maintenance, external areas maintenance, energy and utility maintenance, fire safety systems and procedures, the estate’s emergency and contingency planning, and statutory testing and is delivered by a team of around 30 engineers.

Jack, what made you want to start an apprenticeship in the first place? I wanted to do an engineering apprenticeship because I think this is the best way to get into an interesting line of work.

And why did you decide to choose JCA? I had an opportunity to speak to some of the company’s senior management and expressed an interest in engineering. They told me about JCA and the things they do and suggested that I come to JCA and have an interview with the team to see if this was something I wanted to pursue.

What was JCA’s communication like prior to you starting your apprenticeship?  JCA has been incredible right from the start, keeping me in the loop about what my course was and how it was developing. Emma Lee, our Organisational Development Lead, was particularly amazing, doing an incredible amount of work to get everything flowing smoothly.

How is the structure for your college learning so far? My college course so far has covered such a wide range of subjects from soldering tiny PCB boards to turning intricate parts on a lathe. I am currently doing a series of assessed tasks, now building up to my L2 Mechatronics qualification which I will have completed in June.

How did you enjoy the onsite experience at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital before starting the college course? Being at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital before starting college set me up for the things I was going to be learning. Before working at JCA, I had no real knowledge and understanding of the things that go into engineering.  Everyone on site was extremely helpful explaining how things worked and showing me around the hospital.

And finally, how is the first year of college going? My first year of college is going extremely well. All my teachers are fantastic, ranging from an ex Formula 1 mechanics to a former aerospace electronics engineer. The facilities at Oaklands College are amazing. In my first couple of months I have learnt how to create a piece on CAD, which then I used a 3D printer to bring it to life. 

If you are interested in becoming an engineering apprentice or would like more information on the apprenticeships scheme, get in touch with us – careers@jca.co.uk

For current vacancies and opportunities, including apprenticeships, please visit our Careers page.

For more information about JCA and our services, head over to Our services section.

To find out more about apprenticeships, visit the government’s website – Apprenticeships.