Gareth is currently a Trainee Quantity Surveyor with DL M&E, and his story should hopefully inspire confidence in others considering making a career in the trade.
For Gareth, the path to becoming a Trainee Quantity Surveyor at DL was shaped by an unexpected connection between his personal financial philosophy and professional aspirations. His personal experience with careful money management unexpectedly aligned with his future career path, though he admits he didn't initially know exactly what a Quantity Surveyor did.
In his current role as a trainee QS, Gareth's responsibilities span the entire project lifecycle. He works alongside senior QSs and estimators, learning the complexities of electrical and mechanical installations within M&E projects. His work involves taking off jobs, forming cost estimates, and managing his own portfolio of projects. “I have to track money each month to see how the job's doing, if it's making money, if we're overspending or putting too much labour on,” he explains. “My job is to monitor that through its construction phase, to follow it all the way through from the start of the job to the finish, and to interpret and forecast along the way.”
This attention to financial detail benefits both DL and its clients. Gareth notes that DL's reputation is built on quality execution: “DL goes to do a job, to do it well at whatever is the necessary cost to make sure that the project is done correctly, on time and to the highest of standard.” While this commitment to excellence might create additional pressure from a commercial perspective, it's an ethos he deeply respects.
What truly sets Gareth apart is his passionate approach to learning. “I've always loved training and learning, full stop. Whichever job, whatever job that I've ever done, I've always enjoyed learning the ins and outs of it,” he shares enthusiastically. Currently pursuing his HNC in quantity surveying with DL's support, he's found that the company's environment perfectly matches his learning style. “I've got so many people around the business that have such knowledge that I can use and ask and learn from – the project managers, the commercial side with the estimators, all the QS's, the design team, accounts... it doesn't matter which department it is, I've got some form of an expert I can always talk to and learn from. They’ve been brilliant.”
The biggest challenge in his transition? “Not having a great deal of industry knowledge. That's been a challenge!” Gareth admits. Yet he's found that this challenge is also what makes the role exciting and rewarding. He's particularly fascinated by the intricate details of building services: understanding how cables run to sockets, how water pipes connect to fixtures, and the complex components that make up mechanical and electrical systems.
This technical knowledge proves crucial when working with clients. “It's the justification of why you are undertaking a task in a specific way, or why you are using certain items and materials, and why some things take longer than others,” he explains. “This is a more difficult side to explain to a client QS so that they fully understand your cost submission.”
The support at DL is a defining part of Gareth’s experience: “Everyone's awesome. Everyone's amazing. Everyone's always got time for you. No question has ever gone unresolved.” He shares how colleagues have drawn pictures to help him understand concepts, explaining everything from technical installations to accessibility requirements. “One of the things I learned the other day was information about disabled toilets and the colour used on the Doc M packs being a different colour to the actual wall, so it stands out for visually impaired people. At every point somebody has got an explanation for me.”
Looking to the future, Gareth sees strong potential for growth at DL. While he's currently pursuing his HNC, he's aware of further opportunities through HND, degree programmes, and eventually RICS qualification. However, his immediate focus remains on mastering his current role: “My main aim is to make sure that I'm the best QS at the desks.”
What particularly impresses him about DL is both its supportive culture and work-life balance. “I come to work and start at eight o'clock, finish at 5 o'clock. I work Monday to Friday. I don't work weekends. I've got a company that gives me a five-week holiday. They're supportive; I've had issues, with a grandfather passing away and I've had nothing but support when that was happening. It's a caring company.”
For those considering entering the industry, Gareth emphasises the opportunities available: “If you like money and you like figures, and you like the idea of making money for companies, then Quantity Surveying is the route to go down without a doubt. The M&E industry is very interesting and it's very niche in its knowledge. What DL does within the industry – working on big projects, crazy, big projects – that's something that's exciting at the best of times.”
Having known DL's story even before joining the company, Gareth describes it as “a magical company that has just grown legs, upon legs upon legs for years and years of hard, hard work.” He points to himself and his colleague Sandra as examples of DL's commitment to developing talent: “People even without much initial industry knowledge can still do the jobs within the industry and feel confident enough that they've got people around them that have so much knowledge that they'll be able to support them through teaching and learning.”
He concludes with an inspirational insight shared by his brother that perfectly encapsulates DL's approach to talent development: “There's two types of people. There are people with skill and there's people's will. And it doesn't matter how much skill you've got. Sometimes you need the people that have the will power to be able to succeed and that sometimes the people with the will to learn and the will to try, are better equipped than people with some skills already embedded in them.”
