An eye on the future

In early July, Shufflebottom welcomed two fifteen-year-old local Carmarthenshire boys to our headquarters here at Cross Hands for a true taste of work experience in our offices. Gethin and Owain are both pupils at the magnificent bilingual comprehensive (11-18) Ysgol Bro Dinefwr, Llandeilo and have their eyes set firmly on the future.

Gethin has narrowed down his career choices and envisages a future in Engineering or as an architect. Owain is a little more diverse in his aims, seeing a future in engineering – or in personal training. At Shufflebottom, we wonder whether there is an opportunity yet to be discovered between the two?

Gethin and Owain are well-rounded boys and keen on sports: Gethin a keen rugby player and in the Under 16 team for Llandeilo RFY, and Owain (as befits someone who might be training others in the future) is a keen gym-goer and enjoys lifting weights.

At Shufflebottom we have long tried to open our doors to people like Gethin and Owain, knowing that it is vital to offer much-needed work experience for their personal development. We also know it makes economic sense: they are the ones whose skills need to be developed and honed. They are the talent pipeline who will one day play their part in contributing to the economy of the local and national community. Who knows? They might be part of our #teamofsteel here at Shufflebottom one day.

But for now, they’ve been shadowing and working under the wings of experienced members of staff here, learning about the day to day skills needed to keep a £25 million operation at the top of its game. They’ve been learning about design, detailing and management of our building projects in the drawing office, and about sales and overseeing a building project from concept to delivery in the sales office. As well as the IT skills that are vital for all aspects of the roles.

By the looks they’ve had on their faces, and the feedback we’ve received, we know they’ve enjoyed the opportunity and have benefitted from the real world of work. We wish them both luck and hope that one day they’ll be engineering the future of steel with us at Shufflebottom and perhaps keeping us fit at the same time!