Business Development Manager George Swannel

Education and initial career steps

Originally from a marketing and sales background, I decided during my degree that I wanted to work for a large organisation where I would have the potential to advance significantly in my career in an industry that offered interesting, varied projects. I graduated from Durham University in summer of 2021, and began directly on Heidelberg Materials’ graduate trainee manager programme in September 2021, moving from the North East to the South West for this new chapter in my career. 

Despite not coming from a STEM background, I was attracted to Heidelberg Materials firstly as a recognised, international brand which I knew would offer significant future opportunity if I secured a role, and secondly because of the interview process, where I had the opportunity to interview not only with the talent and development team, but also my future line manager and Simon Willis. That such senior members of a large business, including the CEO, were willing to give me their time as part of the recruitment process made a significant impression on me and gave me confidence that Heidelberg Materials was an organisation that prioritised its people and their development.

My experience at Heidelberg Materials

My programme lasted just over 12 months, and covered the following areas: 

• National Account Management secondment (managing 4 key tier one accounts). 
• Over 50 site visits including quarries, mobile batching plants, concrete plants, cement works, driver ride alongs, major project site tours (HS2, Euston Station, Teesport, Hinkyey Point C), and rail assets. 
• Being a part of the project team, organising our very first Early Talent Conference. 
• Producing bodies of marketing including videos, brochures, case studies, and capability documents. 
• A secondment within our bid team – bidding to win supply into some of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects.

Achievements following the graduate scheme

Off the back of my programme, I was offered a full-time position as a Business Development Manager within our Bid Team, a new team where we are working towards becoming an industry-leading team of proposals professionals. One of the first projects I worked on in this role was competing for Somerset Council’s highways term maintenance contract. This was an extremely challenging submission of over 150 pages which we were very pleased to win – securing over £100m of revenue for Heidelberg Materials Contracting until 2030. Being involved in this major project from the start reaffirms that I made the right decision in joining Heidelberg Materials to make a real difference, and I am looking forward to the next opportunities to come.