And so was the person who, in November 2020, presented himself to be part of Shufflebottom’s vision and growing volume of work in the design and production of structural steel buildings.

From the outset, Shufflebottom wanted someone who would be with them for the long haul. As a major, and long-time player, in the construction industry, they understood only too well that many employers such as themselves struggled to find the right candidate: someone who was fresh from University, with a commitment to business development, as well as their own personal career development.

Scott Hopkins was the natural choice. Shufflebottom Director, Wesley Shufflebottom, says that, “his CV was fantastic and we had a good feeling that he was for us.”

Not only does Scott have a first class honours degree in engineering from globally-respected Swansea University, but also has multiple graduate awards including:

• Best Aerospace Student

• Overall Top BEng Student across the College of Engineering (all disciplines)

• Best Aerospace Group Project

If that wasn’t enough, he also has a private pilot licence, gained after being awarded two flying scholarships for his commitment to the RAF Air Cadets which he joined at the age of thirteen. So it boded well on paper. But as Shufflebottom understands, interviews often tell a different story and that employment is not one-sided and solely employer-led, but has to be a joint commitment and mutually reciprocal for it to be productive.

They needn’t have worried. Scott was the pick. They already find him to be hard-working, motivated, well-presented and punctual and know he is open to being taught the ‘Shufflebottom’ way and be on board for many years to come.

As for Scott, he’d known of Shufflebottom’s reputation and was eager to be part of the set-up so applied as soon as he saw the position advertised. He wanted to contribute to the ongoing success of an already successful local company by bringing his skills and knowledge to the role.

Now as an integral part of Team Shufflebottom, he is already working alongside his mentor and existing Structural Engineer on complex analytical structural and connection design projects for which his education and skills have prepared him well. This is great for Scott and beneficial for Shufflebottom, who now have the added capacity to turn jobs around quicker while at the same time ensure the same high quality standards.

So the Pandemic has brought some good news to Cross Hands in the form of Scott – a high-flyer in more ways than one.

I am very excited to be working at Shufflebottom as a Graduate Structural Engineer, where I aim to use my skills and knowledge to help bring continued success to the company.

Scott Hopkins

Graduate Structural Engineer