Chances are if you see a large infrastructure project, The Davey Group is involved in some way.
Specialising in design and construct that offer a comprehensive range of engineered products for numerous industries (including government, mining, oil and gas, road transport, agriculture and forestry), The Davey Group is an internationally competitive group of companies offering civil, structural and mechanical engineered solutions. These include large, complex industrial equipment, storage solutions, bulk materials handling, processing plants, structural steel buildings and supporting plant infrastructure. Their related companies are also responsible for road transport trailers, grain silos and systems and agricultural machinery and equipment.
As you can imagine, The Davey Group employ hundreds of staff so developing and sourcing skilled team members is essential for the group. For this reason and many others, The Davey Group is a huge fan of succession planning by hiring the next generation of skilled workers through apprenticeships.
BUSY At Work has been supporting The Davey Group with their apprenticeship needs for many years, signing up over 50 apprentices for the group. Recently, Alan Richardson, Apprenticeship Field Officer at BUSY At Work signed up Toowoomba school students, Benjamin (The Industry School) and Curtis (Centenary Heights school), as school-based apprentices for the Group. School-based apprentices can include their apprentice training as part of their school curriculum, training through a trade college and usually working one or two days a week (and getting paid) while learning practical trade skills on site.
Work Health & Safety and Training Co-Ordinator for The Davey Group, Susan Clarke said both Curtis and Benjamin (Ben) are going brilliantly in their apprenticeship so far with both undertaking an Engineering & Fabrication apprenticeship (boilermaking and welding). Even better, Curtis has just finished school and is now employed full-time with The Davey Group.
Susan said, “Both Curtis and Ben are progressing well and during the school holidays they volunteered to work full time as they wanted to go out with the crew to help build some silos off-site. This shows us that they are both keen to progress themselves within the company.”
Both boys have had highly positive feedback from their supervisors.
Supervisor, Kyle Woodlock said of Curtis, “Curtis has shown a real enthusiasm to work and is genuinely keen to learn as much as possible which is quite refreshing. The boilermakers trade can lead to many opportunities so we are very keen for Curtis to broaden his knowledge to take full advantage of what is available.”
Ben also had positive feedback from his supervisor, Tim Goom, who stated,“Ben is a great person to work with, he has a fantastic attitude and work ethic. It’s refreshing to work with a young person who is keen to listen and ask questions as well as complete any task which is required. We hope Ben will continue to progress further by completing his Certificate IV in Boilermaking and have an opportunity to move forward into a leadership role.”
When asked about the best thing about undertaking an apprenticeship with the Davey Group, Curtis said, “People I work with, learning new skills and a good variation of the work involved.”
Ben answered, “Definitely the environment and the people, everyone is approachable and willing to help. It’s great to be able to learn a variety of skills with an experienced crew.”
Both Curtis and Ben have leadership ambitions and want to pay it forward by passing on their knowledge to future apprentices.
Curtis stated, “Once I become a qualified boiler maker, I’d like to move into a supervisor role and be able to influence the younger generation to succeed.”
Ben’s ambition is similar stating, “My goal is to progress on to do my Certificate IV in Boilermaking and then become a supervisor. I look forward to passing on my skills to future apprentices.”
As a large group of companies, The Davey Group can offer opportunities for growth for their next generation.
Susan stated, “The Davey Group classifies as a labour hire company because when people join The Davey Group they can move within our companies. There are options of different jobs so once you are employed with us, if work is limited in one area, for example if it’s the wrong season for silo building then you can move over to the shed areas. We share everybody!”
The Davey Group is made up of a group of companies that include:
“Apprentices are our survival and without them we’d be lost in some respects! They’re our next generation for the business. They not only bring a lot of new skill but a lot of new ideas as well. Being an apprentice and being able to go to trade colleges, keeps our skills up to date. They bring their new learning to the job!
“As opposed to people who just want a ‘job’ and expect that they’ll be welding straight away, apprentices have a more realistic expectation of their path, they know they need to learn the basics first. As well, most apprentices already know what they want to do, they may have done work experience and had career guidance through their school or their trade college. They’re keen to get educated so we know they are here to learn and succeed in the role. Then, if the business is willing to give them the time and effort, like we do at The Davey Group, they’ll successfully move forward in their careers!”
Apprentices are a win-win for business and young people entering sustainable career paths. As the Davey Group understand all too well, they are essential to providing Australia’s industry skills for the future.
Learn more about BUSY At Work’s apprenticeship support services.
Learn more about The Davey Group.
From L-R Benjamin and Curtis (the two apprentices), Steve Blakemore (Grainmaster General Manager, The Davey Group), Alan Richardson (BUSY At Work) and Tony Davey (Managing Director, The Davey Group).
With the teachers who inspired them! Sarah Welch from The Industry School, Toowoomba (far left), Benjamin, Curtis, Kayla Ferguson and Dave McMillan (from Centenary Heights School, Toowoomba).
