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Speakers

Saffron Grant, Digital Construction Skills

Saffron is a Causeway member and an experienced Civil Engineer who, during her twenty years in the construction industry, has worked for contractors, designers and clients. She is an Approved Trainer for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and an Associate Lecturer for Glasgow Caledonian University. Ten years ago, she set up a construction training business, Setting Out for Construction (SOFC), specialising in practical training for site engineers and providing training and consultancy to colleges, universities, construction companies, local authorities, sector skills councils and social enterprises. Saffron is a Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and is an accomplished consultant, coach and trainer in a wide range of disciplines including practical construction training, communication, employability skills and team performance. Her holistic approach to coaching, facilitating and training means that she is flexible and able to accommodate audiences of any kind. She has an exceptional ability to explain complex concepts in a simple way and to put things into a context that is relevant to the learner. She is continually seeking new applications for her successful professional services and training models and opportunities to make a positive and lasting difference to the industry. She has recently brought together a team of partners to deliver the CITB-funded Digital Transformation through Leaders Project under the new branding of Digital Construction Skills (DCS).

Linda Scott, Causeway & CodeClan

Linda Scott is on the Causeway Management Board and is Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Industry Engagement of national digital skills academy, CodeClan. Linda first began collaborating with Causeway in her previous role with West Lothian Chamber of Commerce, where she was CEO for seven years and involved on several trade missions between Scotland and Ireland. Linda has had a wide and varied career. She started her first catering business at 16 years of age, which she sold by the time she was 20. She then for period was a professional horse rider, before returning to a catering career, with a business she ended up having for 20+ years. This led to a role as Vice President of West Lothian Chamber and eventually becoming CEO of West Lothian Chamber of Commerce, where she was instrumental in developing West Lothian’s Developing the Young Workforce skills and training programme (DYW), which went on to be used as the template for the national solution on behalf of the Scottish Government. She has also been a member of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce Board for three and a half years.

Richard Kirk, Workplus

Richard started Workplus to give employers an easier way to find apprentices. For applicants, Workplus is the UCAS for apprenticeships, making it easier for them to apply for apprenticeships across various sectors and roles. Workplus is more than an online platform, it is a community of employers that is creating and identifying new opportunities for aspiring apprentices. Since it was established in 2015, Workplus has helped hundreds of apprentices find their roles in companies across Northern Ireland, from multi-national IT and engineering firms to fast-growing SMEs. Richard currently is a member of the Skills Strategy Advisory Group within the Department for the Economy. Formerly Regional Director of ICE from 2011-2019, Richard is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and holds an MBA from Queen’s University Management School.

Nick Turberville, Invest Northern Ireland

Nick joined Invest Northern Ireland as the GB in-market construction advisor in November 2011 after three years with London 2012. The role at 2012 focused on identifying and promoting construction related sub-contracting packages from across the Olympic venues via the CompeteFor web portal. He also worked on the legacy project to ensure that sub-contracting packages of other major projects were made publicly available. This led to TfL and Metropolitan Police adopting the platform for low level spend and major construction projects including Crossrail, Northern Line Extension and Bank upgrade. He continues to work with major buyers and supply chain professionals to identify opportunities for Northern Irish construction companies, promote innovation and capability of these firms and introduce likeminded companies. Nick has been instrumental in helping Northern Irish firms secure new work on major projects over the last nine years and hopes there are plenty more to come. Living in Edinburgh and working for Invest NI, Nick is an enthusiastic new member of the Causeway Network.