They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. So it wasn’t surprising when my young son’s teacher announced in front of the gathering at his primary school leavers’ assembly that he ‘just loved construction’.
With his classroom window overlooking a major house-building construction site, I can only imagine the daily distractions and temptations.
Our lad’s passion for all things construction is understandable. We’ve been in the thick of construction sites since I was around his age.
Our family knows more than most about the ins and outs of a working site. Over the past 40 years, we’ve steadily built up our client base to partner with many of Scotland’s major housing developers.
Knowing our son shares our love of the sector fills us with pride. Will that mean he’ll one day develop that interest in following our footsteps into our family business? Who knows?
Having taken over the reins from my father and worked with my wife and close-knit team to build the business to the 170-strong workforce that it is today, I would never pretend that running a family business was anything other than sheer hard graft.
However, it’s also a hugely rewarding career that has relationships, commitment, trust and pride at its heart.
As he takes the next step in his education, I know that we will support him, listen to him, understand him, and encourage him to follow his dreams wherever they may take him.
Further reading that might interest you: https://www.youthlink.scot/education-skills/