On the morning of 25th March, COYO was delighted to welcome 100 Design Engineer Construct! students from King Ecgbert School, UTC Warrington, Fairgreen International School, Fulham Cross Academy, Heathcote School, Sir George Monoux College, Drummond Community High School and Cronton Sixth Form College to our inaugural "Future Leaders Forum".

Chaired by Peter Hansford CBE FREng, we were joined by Dr. Nelson Ogunshakin OBE of the International Federation of  Consulting Engineers, Patricia Moore of Turner & Townsend, Sue Kershaw of Costain, Albert Williamson-Taylor of AKT II and Mark Thurston of HS2 for an hour and a half's live discussion and Q&A session to explore the personal qualities, professional characteristics and technical skills required by Built Environment leaders of the future.

With some great questions fed in by students, our esteemed panel offered extraordinary insight into their own journeys into industry, their challenges, their hopes for the future and some great nuggets of wisdom. 

Feedback has been exceptional from students and teachers alike and COYO looks forward to the next Forum, we’ll be inviting more industry leaders to get involved.

Patricia told our DEC students, "If you want to progress, stand in the shoes of a leader." 

And on 25th March, they were able to do just that.