National Apprenticeship Week 2026

Next Gen 1 – Alex Mulholland – Apprentice Engineer At the Warrington Office with Carli Hildebrandt

Q: What attracted you to civil construction as a career?

A lot of my close family are involved in construction and have always spoken highly about the role of being a civil engineer. Having researched the role and skills required, I knew that it was the right career for me.

In 3-5 years I will be a fully qualified Civil Engineer with Institution of Civil Engineers certification, pushing towards being a senior engineer. From there I am interested in getting into project management in the future. This is because civil engineers develop project management competencies throughout their career, so I feel like this is the right step for me.

Q: What skills have you been most excited to learn during your apprenticeship?

Working as an apprentice engineer out on site has allowed me to become competent in setting out using total stations and GPS to a high standard. I have also gained confidence in working with new people and with clients and also, completing quality documentation required to allow work to be signed off.

Over the next two years, I am looking to learn more about commercial processes. This will be done by contributing to more take offs and monitoring activity and tender outputs. I will further develop my HSE performance by completing First Aid at Work training and increasing my input on excavation permits and site reports.

Following my Personal Development Review with Tom (Jepson) and Fraser (Stewart) in August, we discussed the possibility of me taking an AutoCAD course to develop my basic knowledge on the software.

Q: Do you think you will prefer hands-on work, technical or planning role?

Over my career, I will be involved in all these roles. In the short term, I will be hands on while working to become a qualified engineer and then working my way to senior engineer.

Once I feel I have enough knowledge and understanding, I will look towards project management and the technical side of construction, as I find this really interesting.

Q: What kind of support or mentorship do you think would help you succeed here?

Working alongside the other apprentice, Patrick, has allowed us both to pick up new skills and knowledge off each other. With both of us at university and working on site, we have developed a good relationship, and it benefitted us when working on a big project in York. We were able to help each other and make sure that we were completing work to a high standard.

I have also picked up a lot of knowledge from experienced engineers along the way; they have allowed me to become confident in setting out on my own by letting me to shadow them. The advice I have been given has been great and I enjoy asking questions to further develop my knowledge.

“There’s no shame in learning and there are plenty of people in the industry that will be willing to help.”

Q: How would you recommend others to reach out and take the next steps if they want to learn more, get support and a sense of direction?

I would recommend that they ask any questions that they feel will develop their understanding. There’s no shame in learning and there are plenty of people in the industry that will be willing to help.

Q: What does success look like for you in this industry?

Working my way up from an apprentice into a more senior role like project management. It’s not only having a senior role but enjoying the job that I am doing is a huge part of success for me. This pushes me to work harder to achieve what I know I am capable of.

Working at Luddon continues to give me opportunities across different sites to gain as much experience as possible and dealing with new people to pick up even more knowledge/skills.

Since I started with the team here at Luddon, they have continually provided me support and so I look forward to the future.