“If you’re reliable and you want it, the work’s always there.”
In today’s team spotlight we sit down with Site Agent Tom Marshall to chat about reinstatement, running projects and his footballing roots…
Hi Tom, what do you do at Trust?
I look after most of our reinstatement work, running multiple projects from start to finish. That covers everything from digging out the site to resurfacing once the work’s done. At the minute I’m running seven different jobs – they tend to be things like our Nottinghamshire County Council driveway works, where we’re making access easier for people with disabilities.
I’ve been at Trust nearly 10 years now. I came here when I was 19 and I’d just finished playing football full-time. I was on Derby County’s books and then I was at Chesterfield for two and a half years. When I stopped, my dad’s best mate was a grab driver at Trust, so I came to work for him.
I’ve been in reinstatement right from the beginning, but the job’s grown over time and I’ve been given more and more projects to manage.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I get in at around 6.15 every day, get all the lads’ hours ticked off and get them out to work. Then I make my way around the sites and get audits done. That basically means making sure everyone’s got their PPE and they’re wearing it for specific task-related things, making sure the site’s set up safely for pedestrians and cars, everything like that.
As a rule, my sites are usually in and around Nottingham, but we’ve got people working all the way out in Skegness, so I sometimes have to travel out there to do site audits too.
What part of your work have you been most proud of?
I’d say starting to manage my own projects. It would have been easy to just stay in limbo and never progress anywhere, but I always wanted to go one step further. When I started managing my first jobs and they went right, and I was being told I’d done well, that was a good feeling.
What do you love about your job and working at Trust?
Probably the amount of people I actually see day to day. I’ve known them all for ten years and I get along with pretty much everybody – 90% at least! I’m quite easy going, so you can’t offend me in any way, shape or form. I just like putting the lads to work and making it fun.
There’s a good understanding at Trust that we’re all got a personal life and we need to get things done sometimes. Not everything can wait until after work, and they get that.
What might people find surprising about your job?
How much your phone goes off! Everyone thinks, oh you work in an office, you tell other people what to do, you’re not doing it yourself. But in reality, you’ve got teams out working on Saturday and Sunday, you’ve got plans to break down – it’s pretty non-stop.
What are your ambitions for the future?
I’m already running projects and looking after multiple teams – probably 15 to 20 teams at a time, with two to three people in each. So for me, the next step would be being a manager.
What would you say to someone thinking of joining the Trust team?
If you’re reliable and you want it, the work’s always there. If you’re a young lad and you want to learn something, that work’s going to be there for a while, and the money’s always on time. And as long as you’re a good person, we’ve always got work, so you’ll get kept on.
When you’re not at work, how do you like to spend your time?
I spend a lot of time playing football. I play non-league but it’s technically a part-time job as well. I also really enjoy spending time with my son. He’s only three and he loves playing football with me – he’s just not that keen on playing with anyone else!
If you’ve been inspired by Tom’s story. You can find out how you can join us here.
