Events
Thank you to everyone who attended YPiC London's first event of 2024 on the evening of Wednesday 6th March. It was our highest attended event yet, with 150 people attending throughout the evening.
Thank you to Dentons for hosting the #YPiCWednesday event
in their fantastic offices and Chris Paterson for a great talk on developing and building client relationships.
Again, we were overwhelmed by the sign up and attendance for this event and are looking forward to seeing you all again in June!
On Wednesday 13th December, YPiC London transformed the Pinsent Masons' auditorium into a hub of festive networking and philanthropy. Our Christmas-themed event, set against a backdrop of winter-themed games and a lively drinks reception, kicked off a night marked by enthusiasm and professional camaraderie.
The event's highlight was a raffle organised in support of CRASH, the construction industry's charity. Our guests showed their competitive spirit, eagerly vying for an impressive array of prizes. These included Jo Malone Gift Sets, Fortnum & Mason hampers, a coveted restaurant voucher, high-end headphones and speaker, and the evening's grand prize: two sets of Club Wembley tickets for the England vs Brazil match in March 2024.
Ryan Schofield led us into the formal segment of the evening, thanking Millie Leonard and the rest of the committee for putting on such a fantastic event. Our guest speaker, Stephanie Crombie, delivered an engaging and thought-provoking talk, followed by a unique icebreaker challenge. Guests were encouraged to deliver elevator pitches to their peers, igniting a flurry of conversation and networking.
The event's success was not just in the connections made but also in the substantial funds raised for CRASH, reaching £2,418 thanks to the generous donations of our sponsors, our guests raffle ticket buying and the committee’s 5k Santa run 7 days earlier.
The spirit of the event was further amplified when Ryan, won the final raffle prize. In a spontaneous display of generosity, he auctioned his prize, raising an additional £260 for the charity.
YPiC London's Christmas event was a vibrant blend of networking, learning, and giving back. It exemplified our commitment to the industry and the community, setting a high bar for future events. As we look forward to our next event, we carry with us the energy and spirit of this unforgettable night.
YPiC London hosted an unforgettable 'Summer Party' event in September at BRG's offices in London. On Wednesday, the 6th of September, we took full advantage of their exceptional balcony, offering panoramic views across the city that left our guests in awe.
Breaking away from our traditional format, this event had no speakers or committee introductions. It was a night dedicated to pure enjoyment, where our members could unwind, connect, and relish the essence of summer.
The night was filled with the mesmerising melodies of our saxophone-playing DJ, DJ Freddy, creating an electrifying atmosphere that reverberated through the evening. To add a touch of mystique, Psychological Magician Neb left us all in wonder with his incredible mind-reading abilities.
As we bid farewell to the last remnants of summer heat, this was a night that will be cherished in our memories. Join us next time for another unforgettable experience you won't want to miss!
YPiC London hosted our June event at Vinson & Elkins’ offices in London, on Wednesday 7th June, with stunning views across London from the Walkie-Talkie building.
Having sold out 140 tickets within 6 hours last time, we managed to do 200 tickets in 2 hours this time. The committee continue to be blown away by the interest in our events.
Millie Leonard opened the event, thanking everyone for attending and introduced our speaker guest speaker, Richard Irwin, who delivered a talk about his experience in the Data Centre sector, the growth opportunities and the challenges it’s facing. In the spirit of YPiC breaking down the barriers within the industry he also plugged his own network ‘Gen+1’ which sees professionals from the Data Centre sector come together and recently had its second event in London.
The plush offices of Vinson & Elkins in the Walkie-Talkie offered a stunning location for our biggest YPiC London event yet. The rolled ice cream stand, summer cocktails and party games were a hit with our guests as our 1st Birthday Party theme went on late into the night.
A huge thank you to Kyle Donovan of 3DReid for doubling as our photographer on the night.
YPiC London hosted our March event at FTI Consulting's offices in London, on Wednesday 8th March, with a full house despite challenging weather conditions.
It was only 4 weeks ago that 140 tickets were released and snapped up within 6 hours. A waitlist of 50 followed before we had to close the sign-up. It’s a testament to the fantastic work of the committee over the last year.
Ryan Schofield formally opened the event by thanking everyone for attending and reiterated our purpose to create networking opportunities that span the entire industry, not just the pockets we work within. This includes our desire to support the activities of other forums, such as Girls Under Construction and raise funds for CRASH - our chosen industry charity.
Our guest speaker, Ollie Miney, delivered a humorous talk on building your network, stressing the benefit of starting early, which was followed by an opportunity to put theory into practice at the casino tables.
It was an enjoyable evening, filled with networking opportunities and friendly competition, as everyone battled it out to win the top prize.
On December 7th 2022, YPiC London held its first Christmas event at Bounce Farringdon, a ping pong venue located in the heart of London.
The event was well-attended by young professionals from across the construction industry, who enjoyed the festive atmosphere whilst networking and making lasting connections. We continue to be blown away by the momentum YPiC has gained in the first year with over 150 people signing up for this event.
The venue was decked out with festive decorations and attendees enjoyed a variety of festive nibbles and drinks. Also, there was some healthy competition at the ping pong tables after Millie Leonard gave a welcoming speech to all of the guests and thanked every person for their support throughout 2022.
To celebrate the years achievements and the festive period this special event followed a different format than usual, but still presented great opportunities for the young professionals in the industry to meet and engage in interesting conversations. An extended thank you goes to our headline sponsor for this brilliant event, Arena Electrical, with who’s support allowed us to secure this fabulous venue.
The London committee are already planning more exciting events for 2023 and looking forward to seeing everyone again.
On Wednesday 28 September, YPiC returned to Dentons' offices in Edinburgh for a fantastic evening of networking. The committee were delighted to see nearly 60 professionals from across the industry, some attending YPiC for the first time and others returning with excitement having attended the last in person YPiC event in 2019.
The evening started off with prosecco, beer and pizza. Aileen Banks welcomed the attendees with a brief introduction to the new committee members and details on the schedule for the evening. In the usual YPiC format, it was casual networking, followed by an icebreaker to mix people up, a speaker from the industry and finally some more networking to finish off the evening.
Aileen handed over to Annie Davies to explain the icebreaker, which consisted of choosing a slip from the centre of the room, each of which included tasks such as "find an architect, find a quantity surveyor, find someone who didn’t start their career in construction and find someone who has worked abroad". It was a great way to mix up the room and get everyone talking to new people!
For the formal part of the evening, we moved through for a seat to hear from Catriona Hill of Oberlanders. Catriona talked about her career from the start to the present, focussing on some of the quirky projects she has been involved in, as well as weaving in tips for how you can develop your own career and get the most out of opportunities. Catriona's talk was engaging and insightful and provided everyone with something to consider in terms of progressing and building connections in the industry.
The committee are delighted at how the night went and are looking forward to the next YPiC Scotland event in Glasgow on Wednesday 18 January. More details and invites will be issued soon.
So tell me, why do you want to be a manager?
On Wednesday 14th September, our second London event was held at 3DReid's offices, with views over Oxford Street on a warm summer evening.
In the weeks leading up to the event, the committee watched with great excitement as all 120 tickets were snapped up. Further demonstrating the significant demand for networking opportunities that Young Professionals in Construction provides.
The rooftop balcony proved to be a popular spot to watch the sun set, with several late comers concerned that they were the first to arrive. Thankfully, the arrival of fresh pizza from Pizza Pilgrims drew the crowd inside, allowing the formal element of the evening to begin.
Ryan Schofield made a brief introduction after observing a moment of silence to remember the late Queen Elizabeth II, before welcoming our guest speaker to the floor.
Paul Taylor of Alkoomi, made an immediate impression, especially on one person in particular, who was subjected to several renditions of 'Happy Birthday' from the audience. Paul's talk, which was based on his father asking him, "So tell me, why do you want to be a manager?" was thought provoking and insightful.
With Paul staying to chat, most people returned to the balcony with a drink in hand to continue making connections until late into the night. Some even pitched in to help with the cleanup!
The committee would like to thank 3DReid for opening their office for this event. We're already looking forward to doing it all again towards the end of the year, so please spread the word to your friends, colleagues, and clients who might be interested in joining us next time.
Mastering your career!
The first London based Young Professionals in Construction event was held at the Hub at Dentons 1 Fleet Place office on Wednesday 29th June 2022. Any nervousness, held by the committee prior to the launch, proved to be unfounded with 55 construction professionals attending to network and engage with YPiC as an event.
It was fantastic to see such a diverse mix of people from all areas of the construction industry present. There was an instant buzz around the room as soon as the drinks started flowing and the new connections we exist to create were already being made.
Ryan Schofield opened the formal part of the event with a short introduction to YPiC. Poking fun at the divided industry we work in and some of the stereotypes around QS’s, Architects and Lawyers. His call to action was to spread the word. YPiC is for the people in the room and it exists to give an opportunity to meet fellow professionals of all disciplines away from the project based interactions, which usually dictate who we meet and how those relationships develop.
The committee were delighted to have Georgia Thompson as our speaker. Georgia (which we found out means Farmer) is a Civil Engineer, Inclusion Advocate and an Assistant Design Programme Manager working for BAM Nuttall on the EKFB Joint Venture building High Speed 2. The list of things she’s involved in was super impressive and after being announced as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering her topic of ‘Mastering your career’ was perfectly timed. She gave 5 recommendations to those in the room for how to take charge of the work they do. The fact one of those was to say ‘No’ more makes us even more grateful she said ‘Yes’ to speaking!
After the formal element was done it was back to the Hub to enjoy more refreshments and freshly baked pizza. We closed the event around 9pm with the conversations continuing between the night owls at the bar downstairs.
The event proved to be a great success with some fantastic feedback on the night and we’re looking for more from those that attended. We’re already looking forward to our second event in September so please spread the word to your friends, colleagues and clients who may be interested in coming along.
Realisation and delivery of the NHS Louisa Jordan Project
We hosted our first Live Online Event. Adapting to these unusual times YPiC took itself online for the first time. Whilst traditionally alternating between Edinburgh and Glasgow, this new online aspect of the event opened the forum to the many who have been in touch from all over Scotland and the wider UK.
The committee were delighted to have secured Stewart Preston, Operations Director at Robertson Construction to partake in a live Q&A surrounding the realisation and delivery of the NHS Louisa Jordan Project.
Thanks for all the positive feedback we’ve received on the event, we’l certainly be revisiting this platform again, for future events.
Glasgow Event - University of Glasgow, Acting as a Catalyst for Regeneration.
With a change of pace in 2019, we hosted a our Summer Event in Glasgow and were delighted to be supported by Ann Allen, Executive Director of Estates and Commercial Services at The University of Glasgow. Ann was recently awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list and joined us to discuss how the University is acting as a Catalyst for Regeneration of the City.
As well as the big moves being made by the University, linking further across the city, Ann also revealed how the ongoing changes to the main campus are really starting to reshape the delivery of education. In what was a very thought provoking talk, Ann presented how the University is working with other major bodies in Glasgow, to regenerate and rejuvenate previously overlooked zones.
We are Three
The Committee were delighted to welcome everyone to help celebrate three successful years of Young Professionals in Construction.
The speed at which each year passes continues to surprise as we reach each birthday event in September. These first three years have seen the YPiC member numbers rise beyond 850, which the committee are very thankful for. We used this event to take stock, circulating the room, taking on feedback. The committee are keen to keep the forum feeling fresh and to this end we have planning a mini, self-imposed hiatus, where we’ll give everyone a short break from the strangeness of our infamous Icebreakers!
See you all in 2019!
The City Deal - Major infrastructure and Unlocking long time undeveloped sites
A stunning summer evening in Glasgow saw YPiC convene a drinks reception and gathering to hear from Carol Connolly, Head of City Deal at Glasgow City Council. Carol gave us an insight into the City Deal programme and the work involved in the £400 million regeneration of Glasgow.
The key speaker talked around the regeneration of key nodes in the city at Govan, Clyde Waterfront and the Sighthill Transformational Regeneration Area. Carol talked passionately about stitching together the city, remedial works to hard to develop sites and facilitating below ground infrastructure. The City Deal is designed to be transformational to Glasgow and the Clyde Valley.
Higher or Lower
With the landscape of the construction industry changing, and with the recent collapse of Carillion,
YPiC engaged Craig Morrison, Director of FRP Advisory LLP. Craig addressed the room on how such well established companies can get into difficulty and why. The talk also touched on the options surrounding restructuring and how the process is managed.
As ever the Icebreaker mixed the room up, providing the attendees with a gentle, but jovial prod, towards some new contacts. The short, sharp, higher or lower game proved a hit, if a little too easy. Luckily, the tiebreaker question was obscure enough tease out a winner team.
Thanks to all, for the large turnout and the positivity surrounding YPiC.
Flying Autonomous Technology
YPiC were delighted to present Steve Jeans, Director of Aura Survey and Paul Georgie of Geo Geo. On the night Steve and Paul talked the room through their market leading geo-mapping tech processes. In the presence of their survey drones, we were offered an insight into how their tech enhances the output available to land owners or prospective buyers. Steve described the merits in engaging accurate 3D survey information and the applications it can have.
This event certainly prompted plenty of discussion of the legality of drones, airspace, safely and regulation.
Holding the Jersey
A sell out room joined the team for a drinks reception on the MMS balcony, prior to our infamous networking icebreaker getting underway.
YPiC extend their warm thanks to Gary Jebb, Director of Estates for The University of Edinburgh for speaking on the night. Gary's insightful and inspiration talk ranged from the importance of Leadership ,including a reading list, to how his vision for the University Estate will manifest itself over the coming years.
YPiC Summer Gathering, 2017
The YPiC Summer Gathering, 2017 was another sell out. As we near two years of operation it is heartening to see a consistent high level of attendance and hear such positive feedback.
The event was hosted on the 6th Floor, 1 George St, Glasgow. As is tradition with YPiC events, the evening included a mix of casual networking, an icebreaker to mix the room up and a great key speaker.
The icebreaker had the attendees circulating the room, pulling together a project team, with the chosen then describing their vision for the team to guess. As ever, many a smile was raised, before we moved into the more formal portion of the evening.
YPiC welcomed Adam Frickleton, of MLA to lead an informal discussion on the practice's award winning City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus. Adam's delivery was ideally suited to the YPiC forum; insightful, focused, friendly and informal.
YPiC 2017 Spring Gathering
Our spring event was hosted at Quartermile One and the draw of our key speaker, Chris Hughes of BDP ensured another sell out event. Chris, Project Architect on the St James Centre Redevelopment Project, addressed the YPiC guests with an initial overview on the project, before going into the considerable detail on the delivery mechanisms, design team collaboration and technical challenges faced with the phasing.
The YPiC Committee were delighted to offer a behind the scenes tour of the V&A Museum site, in Dundee, for the winners of the evening's networking game. As ever the quick game mixed the room, prompted chat and facilitated the exchange of business cards.
The first YPiC event of 2017.
Returning from the festive break, YPiC sold out our venue in The Corinthian Club, Glasgow.
Kudos to our opening speaker, addressing the room with a Rabbie Burns inspired poem, which was delivered with gusto and encapsulated the programme for the evening. It was at this point the committee unveiled the reasoning behind the scrabble tile handed out upon arrival. Our Burns enthused icebreaker led each attendee to team up and complete a word associated with the famous Scottish bard. The results were surprising, with ‘team timorous’ first to tweet the official YPiC account.
Well done to all, it was a close run competition with the majority of the teams completing their words.
At the conclusion of the icebreaker Bruce Patrick of Savills Investment UK addressed the room on their University of Glasgow master planning project. Bruce described the types of property opportunities, site complexities and how the market is engaging with project. Of particular interest was the description of the stakeholder group make-up and the processes available to review and sign-off areas for development. Bruce’s talk was informative and drew questions from the room on the issues of project priorities and where the University looks to position itself in the global further education market.
Sponsorship partners and Cake
Young Professionals in Construction is 1 year old and to celebrate, we hosted our 1st Birthday Party.
In its first year YPiC has grown to 650+ members, we threw a party to get as many of us as possible together, network and enjoy some tasty birthday cake. As is now expected, the evening began with an informal networking game - a YPiC version of pass the parcel. The abridged format of the birthday classic went down well with all in attendance; the parcel circulated the small groups for 6 seconds, the music stopped giving the holder 10 seconds to speak on a random topic. We were delighted at the laughs had and the positive feedback we received.
As this was a birthday party, we took the decision to tweak the evening format slightly. In lieu of a key speaker, the night was given over to a live DJ to provide background beats and some exciting sponsor unveiling. Between the drinks, networking game, cake and a short committee speech, the night passed at pace.
A key component of the evening was our formal announcement of two YPiC headline sponsors; Savills and Thomson Gray. Each company recognises the importance of what YPiC does for below Director level engagement and the YPiC committee are delighted to have them onboard. The support offered by Savills and Thomson Gray for the next year allows YPiC to continue to grow and bring another four events to market, towards the end of 2016 and into 2017. Exciting times indeed.
