We sat down with Graduate Site Manager Callum Baxter for a quick chat about his journey to his current role, a typical day and his advice for somebody considering a career in construction.

Tell us about your role at Henry Boot Construction. What does a typical day look like for you at The Cocoa Works?

A typical day working as a Graduate Site Manager involves me looking after a particular section of the project.

I work with the subcontractors in my area to maintain health and safety measures, make sure we are all working efficiently, and towards the right objectives.

I also plan the works ahead for the week, deal with any challenges or queries, and generally make sure that everything in my area is running smoothly.

How is The Cocoa Works different to other projects you have worked on?

With this project being a sensitive restoration of an historic building, it has a number of challenges left behind from over 100 years ago, so managing this level of unknown is definitely something I haven’t experienced before. But it makes for an exciting project to work on, overcoming challenges to deliver a polished final product.

Alongside this, the residential nature of the project and the fit out of living spaces is also different to what I have done before.

How has your career progressed so far (tell us about your journey through your apprenticeship and your time at HBC)?

I started Henry Boot in 2017 as a Trainee Technician working alongside my studies at university. I graduated from university in May 2022 and became a Graduate Site Manager.

I am now looking at further progressing my career and knocking on the door of the next step which is Site Manager. I look forward to being given the opportunity to progress and it has been great seeing the last 5 and half years of hard work paying off.

What would your advice be to someone considering a career in construction?

Do it. I think it says a lot that a lot of people who start in construction spend their life in it. Even if later down the line you wanted a complete change, there are many different roles in construction and many transferable skills, so the possibilities are endless.

What or who inspires you at work?

It would be hard to pinpoint one thing, however the job wouldn’t be the same without the people on site and keeping morale up, they really help the days fly by.

I think our people are our greatest asset and we all work together to the common aim of delivering the project as smoothly as possible.