Seventeen-year-old Owen Gartland joins straight from school and will follow a three-year Building Services Engineering course, leading to a Level 4 qualification, with the option to progress to advanced levels.

Based at BREng’s headquarters in Hull, he will work alongside HVAC project manager Tom Smelt and electrical engineer Adam Sykes.

Owen first encountered BREng during a week’s work experience. “I really enjoyed it,” he recalls. “My dad has worked in the service side of the industry all his life, so moving into HVAC and building services design felt like a natural step.”

Following work experience, Owen worked Saturdays and school holidays before joining full-time. The government-funded apprenticeship combines day-release online study with on-the-job training.

Owen is already contributing to live projects, including heat load calculations for 10 high street stores, and a decarbonisation programme for a leading education provider in the North East.

He will also support the on-site survey team in producing digital surveys and 3D scans of buildings, and gain proficiency in software such as HEVACOMP, CAD, and Autodesk Revit.

BREng founder and managing director Rob Smelt said: “Demand for energy-efficient and low-carbon buildings is expanding at a tremendous rate. Decarbonising the national estate will require a huge increase in skilled manpower. We’re committed to helping recruit and train the new generation of engineers and designers needed to meet the UK’s net-zero targets.”