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Sam EvansSam Evans

Hi, I'm Sam Evans and I'm a graduate trainee for KWS, the non-regulated sister-company of Yorkshire Water that bids for and operates utility contracts.

I'll use this blog to let you know what it's like to be a graduate as well as what it's like to work for KWS. Please post a comment if you've got any questions or would like any extra information about anything.

04/01/2010

New Year... New Placement. I've now finished at Kelda Water Services (Defence) and have started a three month stint within the core Yorkshire Water Business. These placements are great as they give a different perspective on the water industry and they allow KWS to share and use best practice across the business. I'm based within Capital Delivery; essentially the side of the business that builds things. I'm managing some projects that will help to ensure Yorkshire Water maintains its excellent environmental compliance by returning treated water back to the environment.

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20/11/2009

Another week; another business case... this week I was presenting one to install some automated screens at a site of ours near Exeter. The solution will help to make the site work better and save money as well so it was a relief in the meeting when the business case got accepted. I've also been helping to recruit a new role for the Service Delivery Team here; I prepared a lot of the background information that the role will require and it's been good to see the process through from the start.

In other news.. what was Brey Services is now Kelda Water Services. In the first stage of the roll-out of the new brand; the Kelda Water Services company BREY (that manage the water for MoD sites) are now also called Kelda Water Services so that we've got a more unified brand; it's been interesting being here while all the changes have taken place and there's plenty going on. Next time you hear from me I'll probably be at my next placement, the three months have gone very quickly (like the grad scheme in general I guess) but I've got lots done and have learnt plenty along the way.

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23/10/2009

This week I presented the business case for the boreholes to our investment committee. The case got approval so we'll start construction soon! We also had the Kelda Water Services annual conference on Thursday. It was really good to see people from different sides of the business and catch up with colleagues from previous placements. In addition, the conference featured the roll-out of the new Kelda Water Services brand and I'll try and keep you up-to-date with all of the changes happening because of it.

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09/10/2009

The bid I talked about in the last post is complete! The tender documentation went off to the MOD last week, so now we're just waiting to hear back from them to see if we've been successful. I'm now working on putting together a Business case for the construction of a borehole at one of our sites. This would mean we could produce and treat our own water on site.

Yesterday I also gave a presentation to some Geography students from Leeds University with my colleague Tom. We tried to give them a flavour about what Yorkshire Water and Kelda Water Service do as companies and what it's like to be on the Graduate Scheme. The first lecture in the morning can be a tough slot; especially when they'd been in their seats for 1 1/2 hours, but Tom and myself think that we managed to get across our positive experiences so far.

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My placements

Sam Evans, 30/09/2009

Welcome to my first blog post!  Well first a little bit about me:  I grew up in Birmingham and moved to Yorkshire when I was doing my Geography degree at Sheffield University.  I stayed living in Sheffield and started working for Brey Services (a KWS company).  Last year I applied for the KWS Graduate Scheme and I started that in September 2008.  I'm now half way through a two-year scheme and have had placements in Aberdeen, Belfast and South Wales.

At the start of September I returned to Brey for a three month placement and I've already started on some projects.  Graduate Trainees are given projects to do while they're on their placements so that they can contribute to the company and learn at the same time.  Brey manages the water and waste water for M.o.D. sites.  I've already started work on putting together plans to ensure our Sewage Treatment Works maintain their compliance with environmental regulations.  Another thing I'm working on is helping the Business Development section put together a tender document for work at another M.o.D. base.

The graduate scheme is structured so that you're generally in a placement for three months.  This means you've got to learn a lot about your new area really quickly.  I really enjoy the challenge and variety the scheme offers and just in my first year I've learnt far more than I would have imagined and been given great support along the way to help me develop.

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