Christian Colledge

From apprentice to assistant site manager, Christian proves housebuilding is a solid career

- 01 Oct 20

There are so many options after you leave school and it’s difficult to know what career path to take, never mind the best route in… Christian Colledge from Torquay joined Bovis Homes as a construction management apprentice in September 2017 and has recently been promoted to assistant site manager. Christian, 21, is based at the company’s Pebble Beach development in Seaton, with this year’s NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Award winner, Lee Woodward as his mentor. Responsible for assisting the site team, he works alongside Lee to ensure the new homes are delivered to a high quality, on time and on budget. A typical day involves helping run the site, health and safety paperwork, on-site health and safety checks, working with different trades and meeting with customers. Christian began his apprenticeship by spending three months in the commercial department, followed by eight months with the technical team and a year out on site. He studied one day a week at South Devon College to achieve a two-year HNC Sustainable Construction in the Built Environment qualification and has just completed his first of five years in Construction Project Management at the University of the West of England, which is a part-time course that enables him to work alongside it. Commenting on his apprenticeship, Christian said: “I love studying while I work, earning and learning simultaneously suits me perfectly. The apprenticeship route has been a great career path and I feel so lucky to be training under Lee, he’s one of the best.” Gareth Neale, construction director for Bovis Homes South West said: “I’m delighted to have Christian on the team, he’s dedicated and eager to learn so I have no doubt he’ll continue to learn and progress through the ranks. He won the regional apprentice of the year and has shown on many occasions that he’s a rising star, as his commitment and attention to detail is outstanding.” Christian added: “I’ve really enjoyed my apprenticeship and feel proud to have been promoted. My dad is in the property industry and one uncle is a carpenter and another is a bricklayer so it definitely runs in the family. Long term, I’d like to stay in this industry and would love Gareth’s role!” Christian lives in Torquay with his family and loves sport. He used to be part of the Torquay United Football academy before his move to construction. For more details on the training schemes available, visit www.bovis-careers.co.uk