A week in the life of one of our project managers

And I would drive 500 miles, and I would drive 500 more…

When I tell people I’m a Project Manager for Fordingbridge, they often assume that my job must be based exclusively in and around the South-East, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

As the UK’s leading canopy provider, we’re trusted by schools, hospitals, garden centres, retail parks, leisure centres, and visitor attractions around the UK. In fact, over the last couple of weeks I’ve covered over 3000 miles surveying sites for new projects and visiting sites to check in on building progress, from new canopies for schools to padel court covers and recladding existing garden centre canopies!

I love how varied my role is both in terms of the diversity of projects we’re involved with and the people I meet. In the last fortnight alone, I’ve travelled the length and breadth of the UK:

• I visited a site in London where we are building a large atrium in a school. I met up with a crane rep to discuss the buildability of the project. As a leading canopy provider, we’ve got an extensive wider team and can manage all aspects of a build end-to-end.
• I surveyed three all-weather garden centre canopies being built at a busy centre in Surrey.
• I travelled up to Hull to survey a garden centre project – this time recladding six existing canopies.
• I then travelled to Edinburgh to complete a pre-build site survey, ready for a new padel court canopy to be installed, followed by a survey at a garden centre in Perth for the installation of a twin span hybrid canopies and a potential new building.
• After Perth, I visited a site even further north in a town called Petershead which is north of Aberdeen. This time for a new tapered trellis canopy to be situated at the entrance of a garden centre for an existing client.
• Next it was time to travel back south via Rotherham where we are building a new canopy for B&Q to showcase its garden range – We have been involved in copious projects for them which include new structures and refurbishments of existing structures.
• Then onto Essex where we are converting an existing canopy into a hard roof canopy with a roof light and enclosing the walls with Kingspan to make additional internal retail space at a garden centre.
• And finally, onto Folkestone to check on the progress of another padel court canopy we are currently constructing.

Although we now do a lot of our work and check ins online, there’s no substitute for meeting people face-to-face and to seeing sites in person and I’m proud to work for a company that still prioritises physical visits.

Find out more about the many clients we work with across the UK by browsing our site. And if you’re considering a project why not get in touch today? Who knows? I could be visiting your site next!

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