Daisy Wright is a Grounds Maintenance Officer at Harmeny School in Balerno, which offers therapeutic care and education to young people aged 5-18 years. She changed career in her thirties by taking part in a Modern Apprenticeship and now loves her job in horticulture, working outdoors being physical with her hands in the soil!
Robert works as Estates and Facilities Manager at Harmeny Education Trust - here he talks about his role, the staff he manages and the importance of training to the development of his team.
Steve is a Green Roof Installation Supervisor in Milton Keynes. He oversees a team working to create sustainable living roofs - vegetated layers that sit on top of waterproofed roof surfaces of a building. We asked Steve to tell us about his job and how he got into the industry.
I’m Steve – I work for Bridgman & Bridgman LLP as a Green Roof Installation Supervisor and I have worked with the organisation for 12 years.
Day to day, I plan the logistics of a project - we often visit sites before we do a job to work out how we are going to get the materials to the roof safely. I supervise the installation of the roof, making sure the job looks good. A big part of my role is maintaining a good relationship with the customer – talking them through the work and keeping disruption and delays to a minimum. I also oversee my staff, making sure they know what tasks they have to do and that they complete these safely.
The best part of my job teamwork and job satisfaction, knowing I’m leaving a job well done. Some jobs are more challenging than others. When we work on a project involving more intricate shapes, pitches, or planting, it feels good when we complete and achieve it. I also enjoy going back to past jobs for maintenance and seeing the roof doing well. Unfortunately, when green roofs are done poorly, it has a knock-on effect on the whole industry - it’s important to me that we install good quality systems that will thrive. I’m particularly proud of working on the Ikea Greenwich green roof - 3,500m2 with 4 types of roof: segregated biodiverse, sedum, a wildflower meadow and raised urban farming beds.
I’ve completed a lot of training relating to my role including several Lantra courses related to the installation and maintenance of green roofs. I’ve also completed courses that allow me to work at height safely, such as using a harness or telehandler, and hold the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test and ROLO Health & Safety Card. Having a Skilled Worker CSCS card has given me the ability to work onsite which is essential for many new build projects that we work on.
We work quite a lot in London throughout the year, with existing roof maintenance taking place in spring and autumn. The tech side of this job happens before we get onsite, such as product and garden design and structural engineering. My job is mainly practical - we use technology tools such as Google Earth and sat navs, as well as plant equipment. I need to make sure we have enough growing medium (substrate) for the sedum to grow in. It’s also important to me to keep a tidy site and deal with waste safely.
The weather can be challenging to deal with in this job – high winds can slow down a project. Other challenges include logistics - as we are working with a living product, we need to make sure it is in place as soon as possible. As a team we need to be flexible when deliveries are delayed and adapt to make sure the living product is taken care of.
Green roofs have many benefits for the planet - reducing the heat island effect, increasing biodiversity, and helping with carbon capture. It would be great if more people were trained across the country so that we could do more jobs locally. I would like to move to a less physical role as I get older. I like showing new people how to build green roofs and have lots of experience to share, so delivering practical training might be good for me in the future. It’s great being outside - the practical work keeps you fit, with lots of problem-solving and teamwork - we all look out for each other and get the job done.
Abi is a Green Roof Installer and Grower in Milton Keynes. She helps create sustainable living roofs - vegetated layers that sit on top of waterproofed roof surfaces of a building. We asked Abi to tell us about her job and how she got into the industry.
I’m Abi – I work for Bridgman & Bridgman LLP as a Green Roof Installer and Grower. I will have been with the organisation for 6 years in July – I started right after leaving school; I wanted to gain some work experience which led to a 2-year apprenticeship, and I moved to full-time employment when that came to an end.
My work can vary - I split my time between our plant nursery and jobs working with the team installing and maintaining green roofs across the UK. The best part of my job is teamworking and learning plant knowledge from the other people I work with. I also enjoy being creative and helping to design planting schemes. It was great to be involved in the Ikea Greenwich green roof, creating areas for wildlife, nature, and rooftop farming. I am proud of many of the living roofs that we have created.
Spring and summer are our busiest for growing at the nursery - we grow sedum, wildflower and plug plants for planting on living roofs. The rest of the year, our activities will depend on what our activities and priorities are.
Planning a project including logistics of materials is a massive part of the process - making sure things arrive onsite at the right time is essential. Green roofs tend to be one of the last jobs to be done when working on a new building project, so we need to plan as much as possible and always be willing to adapt as schedules change. Adverse weather such as wind can also slow down a build and be quite frustrating!
I’ve completed a lot of training relating to my role – I started by gaining my Level 2 Diploma in Work-based Horticulture and have since completed several courses related to the installation and maintenance of green roofing. I’ve also completed courses that allow me to work at height safely, such as using a harness or mobile elevated work platform (MEWP). I now hold a Blue Skilled Worker LISS/CSCS (Land-based Industry Skills Scheme / Construction Skills Certification Scheme) Card, so I am trained to install green roofs safely on building sites as well as residential properties.
Living roofs are a part of the solution to becoming a more sustainable society - they have many benefits including reducing the heat island effect, where urban areas are significantly warmer due to human activities and improving biodiversity. You need to like being outside, enjoy physically hard work, and be okay working at height - teamworking, good communication skills, and being able to work safely are essential skills when working with green roofs. If you want to do something practical that benefits the environment, working in green roofing can be an enjoyable and rewarding career.
