Are you looking for a fulfilling way to share your expertise? Look no further! Wallace Whittle are looking for experienced individuals to join their WW:Academy Team on a flexible, part-time hybrid basis.

The opportunities are diverse, catering to individuals with varying areas of expertise. Whether you excel in training and development, technical documentation, or quality assurance, there’s a place for you to make a meaningful impact.

1. Training and Development: Assist in shaping the next generation of engineers by contributing to the creation of training materials and development programs.
2. Technical Documentation: Play a crucial role in updating and maintaining technical documents, templates, and standards, ensuring accuracy and relevance in an ever-evolving industry.
3. Quality Assurance: Help uphold the highest standards by participating in quality and technical audits, ensuring consistency and excellence in the services provided by Wallace Whittle.

1. Recently retired engineers who are looking to give back and share their knowledge with the next generation.
2. Current engineers who are looking at retirement, but would consider moving to one/two days a week.
3. Engineers who are looking to get back into work on a part time/flexible basis.

Your years of experience and expertise will not only benefit the company but also contribute to the continual growth and development of engineering professionals. By sharing your knowledge, you’ll help maintain and elevate the quality of products and services delivered by Wallace Whittle.

These positions offer flexibility, allowing you to work part-time and focus on areas where you excel. Don’t worry about administrative tasks – the in-house team will provide support, so your valuable time can be dedicated to what you do best.

1. Short, medium and longer term contracts.
2. Fixed or flexible working hours.
3. Agreed days of commitment that work for you!
4. Competitive payment for your time.

We spoke to Richard Thomas, who is currently working with us as part of this initiative.

“Everyone is under so much pressure to get things done we have forgotten to pass the basics on to our young engineers. There are building blocks which when taught, give foundations to all that goes thereafter. The gut instinct of what is right and what is wrong is part of engineering. These basic building blocks help in getting this core understanding firmly at the centre of a young engineers career, giving them the foresight to see a situation which cannot be taught from a book.”

“I don’t want to let my experience nor anyone else’s for that matter just disappear into the ether when we all at one point face retirement. Joining the Wallace Whittle Academy team means being given the opportunity to pass on knowledge to the next generation and it’s already been rewarding. I would absolutely recommend getting involved.”

If you’re passionate about making a difference in the industry and eager to support the next generation of engineering professionals, we encourage you to get in touch. Join us in shaping the future of engineering excellence!

If you’d like to arrange a chat with our Academy team about getting involved, please email Raymond Kelly, Quality & Standardisation Manager – [email protected]

WWith our Warrington Office celebrating its 10th birthday this year, we thought we’d start the celebrations by looking at some key projects!  Over the past decade, our Warrington office has made a lasting impression with its innovative designs and hard work. Operating primarily in the North of England but serving far beyond, the office has seen tremendous growth and has contributed to some incredible projects. 

From life sciences to luxury hotels, the Warrington Office displays a diverse array of expertise across sectors, including: 

• Kadans Upper Brooke Street, Manchester – Life Science. R&D facilities complemented by a mix of ground floor uses and enhanced public realm. We are providing MEP, Energy & Sustainability design services to deliver an all-electric low carbon solution.
• The Store Oxford – Leisure/Hotel. The Store Hotel project involves the refurbishment and extension of the former 1738 Boswell & Co. department store in the centre of Oxford, into a 4-star boutique hotel. We provided full MEP, energy, and vertical transportation design services and construction support. 
• Victoria Infirmary, Northwich – Healthcare. The works involve the creation of a new department which will house two operating theatres and related support accommodation, at the Grade 2 listed Victoria Infirmary conservation site in Northwich. We are providing full MEP, Energy, BREEAM and NZC services.
• BT Warrington – Data Centre & Commercial Office. Wallace Whittle developed the design in line with BT’s MEP, IT, BMS and Security standard requirements. With 6000m² commercial office, staff welfare and resilient infrastructure facility.
• Prestwick Educational Campus – Education. We provided full MEP design and Sustainability consultancy services to one of the first all-electric educational campuses. The campus is comprised of classrooms, multi-purpose & communal rooms, welfare facilities, a nursery & sports hall. MEP environmental services included ASHPs (Air Source Heat Pumps) and an extensive PV Array. 
• North Boddingtons – Residential. We are providing full MEP, VT & Energy design consultancy services to Boddingtons, Manchester. The scheme consists of 28 storeys and comprises 505 residential apartments above ground floor commercial and ancillary spaces.

Reflecting on a decade marked by triumphs, challenges, and an unwavering dedication to quality, Warrington’s journey symbolises our commitment to progress.

As Wallace Whittle continues to chart its path in the north of England, we look forward to the next 10 years in Warrington and the newly opened Manchester and Birmingham offices!

You can read more about our expansion here.

Get in touch with us today to discuss your next project or to learn more about our expertise in England – [email protected]

WWe welcomed our largest gathering of Academy members yet at our WW:Academy training sessions, across levels 2, 3 & 4 in May and June.

Staff from our eight offices across the UK took two days away from their desks to come together and engage in discussions, team-building exercises and sessions aimed at enhancing leadership skills and fostering cross-discipline communication. 

These groups consist of three levels. Level 2 are our Junior and Graduate staff, Level 3 are Mid-Level to Senior and Level 4 are our Management and Next Generation Leadership. Academy courses last varying lengths of time depending on stage and we had record numbers of attendees as we continue to bring in new staff at each level. Since launching in 2022, we’ve had 54 staff participating in our Academy with the biggest group at Level 2.

As part of our commitment to excellence, we invited leading external experts to speak at our sessions. Project Managers Thomas & Adamson, BDP Architects, and FES presented on the themes of lessons learned and sparked valuable conversations.

Thomas & Adamson led an interactive talk on best collaboration models and aligning expectations, emphasising the importance of cross-discipline communication and effective collaboration. They spoke at length with our Level 2 members to provide a deeper understanding of the role of Project Management across a project and we thank Murray Halliday, Richard Burgham Pearson, Kieran Toner and Andrew Campbell for their time.

BDP Architects shared a compelling case study of the Newmains & St Brigid’s Community Hub project, which both WW and BDP worked on for North Lanarkshire Council. They shared the architectural journey in designing a project like this school merger with local community services, from public consultations to concept drawings, down to final designs. This project is now a much appreciated hub with spaces for everyone, but wasn’t without its challenges and there were some great learning points to pass on to the next generation. Thanks to Lindsey Mitchell, Brad Morrison and Sandra Gallagher from BDP for their time taking us on the architectural journey of a project.

Our speakers from FES took us on-site, explaining the critical role of integration of communication in the early stages of design and seamless collaboration with external parties and providers throughout the project lifecycle. This session provoked a lot of conversation at all levels, with our members asking about common issues and how to avoid these in future between MEP Consultants and Contractors. Stuart Lochrie and Gordon McNeil gave an honest and engaging insight and we appreciate them giving us their time and expertise.

A thread across all external sessions was early intervention and prevention, specifically with regards to communication and project work across stages. Discussions centered around expectations vs RIBA stages/BG6 guidelines, timelines and avoiding overspend. This contact time is invaluable for our engineers, particularly our newer generations who haven’t spent as much time in contact with wider design teams and on site yet. Bringing in new perspectives has sparked conversation, debate and given our teams an advantage for the future. 

This year, our two-day training kicked off with a session led by our QA & Standardisation Manager and our Academy Manager. They reiterated the crucial importance of Quality of Product and Quality of Service, a core message that has been central to our training since the inception of WW:Academy. Notably, each session from the external presenters also emphasised this theme.

The session reviewed our continuous improvements, outlined future goals, and highlighted positive feedback from satisfied clients. Additionally, it featured an interactive quiz on the BS EN ISO 19650 standard naming convention protocols, adding an engaging element to the learning experience

At our previous sessions at the end of 2023, we set our Academy members a presentation task, a fee-bid for a project, which they had to deliver in teams to our Glasgow Director, Barry McKeane, alongside Ian Gracie, Drum Property Group. This time, Barry came along to deliver his own feedback and takeaways from watching those presentations. He highlighted key areas for development but also explored the idea that people have different strengths, and not everyone will thrive in that environment but can, for example, provide key technical knowledge. It was a really interactive session where members addressed their ‘Umms’ and ‘Emms’, their speed of delivery, presentation layouts and shared tips for the nerves!

At Wallace Whittle, we’ve invested heavily in the development of our staff to ensure a quality of product and service, but also a healthy work life for our teams. We spoke to our Academy Manager, Paul Hargreaves, about these first sessions of 2024. 

“The Academy was really busy this year. After seeing the first staff members develop so well, we’ve now enrolled everyone in the business under the age of 24 in addition to the existing members. We pushed the importance of communication and how the quality of what we deliver reflects on us as individuals and as a business. The Academy is really growing and the messages we’re sending out are being seen throughout the company on a day-to -day basis.” Paul Hargreaves, Academy Manager.

We also have a dedicated Quality & Standardisation Manager, Raymond Kelly, who has 45 years of experience in the industry. He works alongside Paul to drive the learning and development sessions, with a core thread of our non-negotiable drive for quality.  

“Being part of our WW Academy, and in particular these Training Sessions means being part of the development of the younger people coming through the business, which is very rewarding to me on a personal basis. It’s incredibly satisfying, witnessing the growth in individual skill sets and even just the increase in self-confidence especially in those who have been with us over the last few years of the WW:Academy is fulfilling.

The Training Sessions also give me an opportunity to reinforce our message of maintaining the very highest of standards and quality in relation to the WW product to which we continually seek to improve upon. The engagement from our younger staff and their understanding of the part which they play in that objective is very reassuring and puts us in good shape for continual growth in our pursuit to provide a market leading quality of product and quality of service.” Raymond Kelly, Quality & Standardisation Manager.

We wrapped up each level with a face to face session with our Managing Director, Allan McGill. He opened the floor to questions and feedback, and delivered a company update. We truly believe the power of openness and honesty from our senior team is key to trust and dedication across all levels. 

We are proud of this industry-leading initiative as we continue to develop our staff at all levels. From partnering with LinkedIn Learning to provide our on-going digital learning, to bringing in external expertise to widen perspectives – we’re committed to empowering our teams to grow personally and professionally.