A relatively new addition to the commercial and sales team, Mechanical Engineering graduate Craigh Wake was fresh out of university with a first-class degree, when he was appointed as Graduate Commercial Costing Analyst at Stage One. Due to the nature and scale of our work, Craigh has found himself actively involved in high-profiled events such as The 2022 Commonwealth Games. As the first point of contact for many of our clients and suppliers, Craigh supports throughout the process of the project, from initial enquiry and costing through to delivery, and installation. In this episode of Stage One Stories, we’ll cover Craigh’s ambitions, experiences, and discuss the top challenge we may be facing as an industry.
When the world was your oyster, what made Stage One stand out from the crowd?
Stage One offered a unique opportunity that I couldn’t find in any graduate programme offered by larger engineering firms. Also, I’m not sure that I’d have had such a steep learning curve anywhere else, you’re constantly learning new things and being introduced to people within the industry. I’ve already been exposed to a wide range of roles and responsibilities across the entire business and feel very well supported.
During my first few months, I was able to spend time on the shop floor, which has had a number of advantages. For example, when I look over initial design proposals, I can now more confidently recommend design development that can significantly reduce costs and production times. I think one of the more noticeable changes has been my confidence. I was quite nervous before I started as I had no direct sales or costing experience. I had to hit the ground running and found myself taking on live projects within my first few weeks. Personally, I think that’s the best way to get started in a career, as you have room to make decisions on your own and learn important lessons
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What’s been the biggest learning that’s supported with your professional development?
After completing my degree, I thought I knew quite a lot, however I quickly realised that’s not the case. During projects at university, you want to show off all your knowledge, so there’s a tendency to make your work more complicated than it needs to be. However, in the real world the opposite is true, you need to make everything as simple and straightforward as possible. The hardest part of the job is understanding exactly what the client wants from us, especially if we only receive a sketch or a brief description of a scheme. I’ve found speaking to the client over a video call or face-to-face is best to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Has Stage One lived up to expectations?
I would definitely say so. I love how different each project is. Rather than spending time on similar projects, here you’re constantly on your toes. For me, the best bit is seeing projects through each of the stages of workflow; I get to take the initial enquiry and am on site to support with installation. I’ve been gifted with some great opportunities these past few months. I’ve worked on Water Stations for The Commonwealth Games; it was a great to be part of such a huge event. Another was Paul Bonomini’s ‘Chaos’. That was my first project where I was flying solo. It was a great experience; I was able to learn the process behind designing and turning the design into a sculpture. I was involved with test-build here and then went to site to support in Scarborough on the install.
How do you hope to develop?
I’m still not sure what direction I want to take my career in, so I’m lucky to be able to be exposed to as many roles as possible. I’m keen to take on more responsibility whilst developing my technical knowledge and working on my commercial skills and legal awareness, which is something I’ve not had to deal with before.
As someone fresh to the industry, what do you feel is the biggest challenge?
I would say spreading awareness about sustainable practices that are viable at a commercial scale. Most clients are now concerned with improving their impact on the environment, however many of them are not prepared to compromise their budget or scope to achieve it.
Another issue that ties into this is understanding the difference between truly sustainable manufacturing practices, and what the public perceive as sustainable. While living walls and “natural” materials may help a company to market themselves as environmentally focused, more climate-friendly practices like re-using existing builds or circular materials often go unnoticed.
I think that it’s good that the public are starting to reward and even demand sustainability from brands. However, until it becomes easier to trace and reward truly sustainable practices, large brands will not see it as worthwhile to invest money in improving their environmental impact.
If you have a project that you would like to speak to Craigh and the team about, please email enquiries@stageone.co.uk and a member of the team will be in touch.
