Blog: Excellent progress for former CoTrain C&J Apprentice Matt

18 May 2018

His apprenticeship with CoTrain gave him an extensive practical knowledge & Matt is now trainee site manager with Beard Construction

Matt Shepherd first joined CoTrain in early 2014 as an NVQ Level 2 Carpentry & Joinery (C&J) apprentice and one of our first apprentices. He progressed to an NVQ Level 3 apprenticeship, still in C&J, and then started to gain experience as a trainee site manager.

Matt worked with several contractors during his apprenticeship but spent the end of his Level 2 and all his Level 3 NVQs with Guildford-based construction firm Beard, a £136 million turnover regional contractor, which operates across the South of England.  During his time with Beard, Matt has worked as a trainee carpenter on a £5.5 million refurbishment project at Eton College, which provided two years of paid employment. In 2015, he was awarded £200 worth of tools by Beard and CoTrain in recognition of his hard work on this project. After completing his NVQ Level 3 in Carpentry & Joinery in May 2017, Matthew joined Beard as a full-time trainee site manager where he has most recently been working on a £22 million construction of a new mosque.

Recently, CoTrain caught up with Matt to see how he is progressing. Studying at East Berkshire College, doing the level 3 Construction and the Built Environment, Matt continues to develop and is training to be a finishing foreman.

One of the first things that Matt remarked on was that the years that he spent on site doing his C&J apprenticeship gave him an extensive practical knowledge that is really helping him in his current role, coming from the trade into site management, and the transition from a C&J apprentice into site management has been easy, given the experience and the help from Beard’s site team.  

Matt, looking back, said that “CoTrain helped me get into the construction industry by placing me on interesting projects that provided a wide range of experience which helped build my confidence and skills as a carpenter."

Looking to the future, he said "Since leaving CoTrain and joining Beard as a trainee site manager, I have widened my experience and knowledge and I’m enjoying the challenge of learning the ropes of managing a construction site. I plan on continuing my training with Beard and completing my NVQ 3 in Construction in the Built Environment. Once I have done this, I hope to go on to do a HNC then a HND in Construction. In five years’ time, with these qualification under my belt, I hope to be at a stage where I am working as an assistant site manager on a construction project." 

 CoTrain wishes Matt all the success in his career!