Taking on new challenges
Ronnie began working as a trainee in an assistant surveyor role at a company in Cheshire – where his main focus was topographical surveys and scanning, which gained him valuable experience and insight into the surveying profession. Ronnie spent two and a half years at another Cheshire-based surveying company, before he was offered a great opportunity to work in a surveying role in St Austell, Cornwall. During the year he spent in Cornwall, he worked across the county on all types of geographical terrain and many interesting projects – including a hotel on the coast – which offered considerable surveying challenges.
Although he really enjoyed his time in Cornwall, it made sense for family reasons for Ronnie to work more locally back in Cheshire. He secured a role at Powers and began at the beginning of May this year. Ronnie had heard about Powers when he worked in Cheshire previously and knew they had a good reputation for professionalism as a trusted name in the region. As Ronnie explains: “It’s important to me to work somewhere where having the right training, accreditations and certifications is considered necessary. Powers is very good at ensuring its employees receive the best quality of advice and training. I want to be part of a company that is committed to doing the right thing, especially with regards to working with apprentices.
“One of the biggest challenges surveying is facing is getting more people into surveying. The profession has too many one-person operations that due to their reduced overheads and rates are able to undercut larger companies, but are not always providing the quality of service. I think a company that develops their team to gain qualifications that ensures they understand the theory behind accurate data capture and processing is becoming more and more important – it’s not just a case of buying a total station and getting out there, there’s more to it than that.”
A perfect match
Ronnie is currently putting his application together to become a Technical Member of the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES). He also loves the mix of site and office-based work – he is techy, but enjoys being outside, so membership of the CICES professional body is the perfect match. His main skills base is topographical and measured building surveys. They align closely with his Geography degree, which is ideal – from the contour lines of mapping, to how the data is presented and other aspects too. Ronnie also carries out on-site setting out and some engineering work. From his techy side, he’s looking forward to embracing new technology, but enjoys being shown the right way of doing something, so he can pass that learning on to others. Outside of work, Ronnie spends his leisure time outdoors, and enjoys biking, hiking, hopping in his campervan and exploring the landscape.
As Ronnie concludes, “In my new role at Powers, I’m looking forward to my own personal development, but also to helping develop and mentor others. I didn’t feel like I got much guidance when I first started out, so I don’t want others to find themselves in the same situation now. Learning from experience is important, but sharing that knowledge is equally so”.
Lucy Powers, director at Powers, concurred: “We’re very pleased to welcome Ronnie to the team. He’s a good fit for us, with his geographical background and love of the great outdoors. His surveying experience has already taken him far and wide, and having his knowledge and enthusiasm on board is a great asset to our company”.
