Walker Sime Promotes 13 of Its Team
Walker Sime has announced a raft of new promotions – 13 in total. We spoke to the promotees to explore what taking the next step in their careers means to them, and to discover the common threads that have led to their progression.
Lots of growing businesses promote from within. It helps to protect the values and ways of working of an organisation, ensuring there’s no dilution of the secret sauce of success. Yet it’s rare to find an organisation able to promote quite so many members of its workforce at the same time. Thanks to new client wins, a growing order book and the knock-on effect of promoting more senior figures, Walker Sime is promoting 13 of its 90-strong team.
These promotions include the two recent promotions to Director level for Andrew McNaghten and Chris Tildsley, both progressing from their Associate Director roles.
We sat down with some of the promotees to find out what their advancement means to them, and to explore the common denominators in their success.
Personal milestones and paying it forward
Some of the promotees reflected on the promotion being a career milestone, a recognition of their journey to date and the launch point for a new phase. Project Manager (PM) Christian Baird said, “This progression is an amazing milestone for my career, opening the door for new opportunities for growth and development. The additional responsibilities and challenges motivate me to strive for even greater achievements and will help me to be the best PM I can be.”
Viet Hunyh who recently spoke about his work as Principal Quantity Surveyor (QS) on Manchester’s New Victoria development before his promotion to Associate Director QS, sees his promotion as an opportunity to pass on his knowledge and experience: “As well as a great development milestone for my own personal growth, I will enjoy the challenge of growing as a person but also developing others with me.”
The opportunity to ‘pay forward’ their success was a common theme among the promotees. Conal Spelley said: “For anyone who is on the career path I’ve been on, it will help me to help them develop too.
“It also opens up a lot more opportunities projects-wise,” he added. “And it’s given me a boost in confidence to advance even further.”
Anthony Slack agreed. “The promotion has given me the confidence to take responsibility for the delivery of services. It has encouraged me to involve my colleagues in my projects, whilst allowing me to mentor others and assist them with their development and career progression.”
Charlie Chu, who becomes a Principal Project Manager, sees his promotion in terms of the wider business. “It allows me to get involved with shaping the Liverpool office to ensure sustained future growth.”
In good company
The promotees also spoke about their promotion journey and two elements were common in many of their comments.
“There is an expectation of growth, that you’ll keep moving forward,” said Joe Lamb, who has been with us since his QS apprenticeship and now becomes a fully-fledged Quantity Surveyor. “I’m very appreciative of the fact that I bumped into Nick [Wdowczyk] and Caz [Rennie] all those years ago and glad I decided to take up their initial offer for work experience.”
Shaun Bretland added, “Our industry is predominantly about people. So it’s important to choose a company that aligns with your personality and values.”
In addition to support from Walker Sime, Shaun was keen to thank the clients with whom he has worked. “I have had tremendous support from some of our existing clients who have been pushing me on some very challenging schemes over the last few years!”
Promoting people people
Walker Sime’s Managing Director Duncan Firth reflected on the volume of internal promotions.
“We’ve enjoyed success over the past few years, but that success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a product of our ethos. We know how important our people are to our clients’ projects and it’s important that, as we grow, we do it with those same people who helped bring us to this point, people who are Walker Sime to their bones. That’s how we ensure that, as we bring fresh talent into the business, we hold true to the standards and ways of working we have set.”
Who’s been promoted?
Congratulations to everyone on their recent, well-deserved promotions:
Conal Spellacy Senior Project Manager
Christian Baird Project Manager
Shoeb Munshi Principal Project Manager
Viet Hunyh Associate Director QS
Tom Cox Senior Quantity Surveyor
Anthony Slack Principal Quantity Surveyor
Shaun Bretland Principal Quantity Surveyor
Joe Lamb Quantity Surveyor
Sam Clayton Senior Project Manager
Ian D’arcy Principal Project Manager
Charlie Chu Principal Project Manager
Talk to us
For nationwide multi-disciplinary construction consultancy, including Quantity Surveying, Project Management, Infrastructure Services, Construction Design Management, Bill of Quantities and more, call us on 0161 872 9955, email hello@walkersime.co.uk or message us here.
