Member’s MBE for Nightingale

DANROK

Honours Member awarded MBE for Nightingale work

Garenne’s Marc Burton recognised for role in building Jersey hospital in just 25 days

Marc Burton

(left), chief executive of the Channel Islands operation of the Garenne Construction Group, was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year’s Honours list.

The award is in recognition of his role as project director – J3 Ltd for the construction and delivery of the Jersey General Hospital – Nightingale Wing (above), which was designed and erected in 25 days.

He said: “I’m truly honoured to have been awarded an MBE for services to the Jersey community during the covid-19 pandemic.

“Whilst this is a personal award, this project was truly a team effort and I really must say thank you to a fantastic team, which saw Jersey’s construction industry pull together and work collaboratively with many government departments including HCS [Health and Community Services], GHE [Growth, Housing and Environment], Property Holdings, Treasury, Planning, Building Control, Fire and Ambulance services and the Office of the Chief Executive.

“We employed 521 local people and 83 businesses to construct this 180-bed facility in a green field in just 25 days.

“A special thank you goes to my colleagues at J3, Garenne, Camerons, SRM and Geomarine for their valuable knowledge and support and a design team that worked around the clock.” ●

Kelly Smith, CIOB student member and Novus member Meet a member

Postgraduate student at the University of Chester, studying Flood Risk Assessment Modelling and Engineering MSc

Why did you choose construction?

I chose construction because of all the incredible avenues that it could take me down for future career prospects. It would give me the ability to be outdoors and active whilst working and having a brief opportunity to be indoors when the weather wasn’t so appealing. I also enjoy the ability to be dynamic and work with various different stakeholders across any normal day. I have a short attention span and a very active personality so the construction industry was perfect for me.

You are hoping to take your postgraduate study in flood risk to PhD level. Why particularly this area?

Even the avenue that I’ve chosen to go down for that is particularly challenging; I have chosen to do a unique PhD in which I write the proposal and I dictate the way in which I want the research to be conducted. I am truly the leader of my own education. I also choose my own supervisor according to the research that they’ve previously done, the students that they’ve supervised and the subject areas they currently teach.

Similar to the Latham report or the Egan report, I would like to create something which provides guidance for the construction industry specific to flooding.

What I notice from working in the construction industry is that people only work towards the criteria that are set out for them. If the guidance legislation and policy is more stringent, the quality of product and service received by the service users and society at whole will be much better – and far fewer incidents will occur following better quality construction.

What are your career ambitions?

I am incredibly ambitious. Within the CIOB and CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) I want to become fully chartered, and in education I would like to attain my PhD then get an undergraduate in mechanical engineering from a technical college, because I enjoy using the tools and machines.

Finally in my career I would like to be the permanent secretary for DEFRA or Housing and Urban Affairs. This would allow me to influence the policies that the industry follows.

How do you spend your spare time?

Prior to covid I used to enjoy swimming every week but since then my cycling and hiking has increased. I also have a keen interest in combat robotics. I’m incredibly grateful for nature and I like spending as much time as possible in it or sitting by the seafront to think.

Follow Kelly Smith’s construction progress on Instagram at https:// instagram.com/kweens_ construction?igshid= 1cx2n5qd2smu6.