Birmingham-based building services provider J S Wright has taken a lead within the industry by launching its own Foremen’s Academy.

Present at Geberit House in Warwick for the launch of J S Wright’s new Foremen’s Academy are, from left to right, J S Wright Academy Leader Paul Millington, J S Wright Integrated Management System Manager Toby Guise, Foremen Lee Strickland, Robert Stevens, John Roche, Mike Cox, Westly Powis, Lewis Riley and Ricky Barton, and Dale Carnegie Chief Executive for Central England Ed Carter

The 123-year-old award-winning mechanical services specialist, which also has offices in London, has pioneered the move in conjunction with world-renowned management training experts Dale Carnegie.

The first eight Academy members gathered at leading sanitary, supply and drainage system supplier Geberit UK in Warwick for the launch of the initiative, which aims to boost the leadership, team building and communication skills of J S Wright’s foremen.

The Foremen’s Academy builds on the success of the JSW Academy – a forum for developing the company’s apprentices – by enabling young newly appointed site supervisors to cope with the increasing demands of managing a worksite.

These include having the confidence to lead older and more experienced workers, taking responsibility for safety, maintenance and environmental issues, and being equipped to deal quickly and effectively with any situations that may occur.

Members spent the opening day at Geberit UK in seminars with Dale Carnegie and J S Wright managers honing their leadership, time management and relationship skills. They got to know their colleagues better and discussed the most appropriate ways of dealing with any issues on site.

Paul Millington, Academy Leader, said: “The launch was a great success and our young foremen went away saying they already felt better equipped for dealing with people.”

Ed Carter, Dale Carnegie Chief Executive for Central England, commented: “Once again J S Wright have shown their foresight in developing the Foremen’s Academy. This latest move shows their total dedication to people development, which enables them to provide the very best results for their customers.”

Marcus Aniol, Managing Director of J S Wright, added: “Our new Foremen’s Academy reinforces our commitment to having the best trained workforce in the industry and we are grateful to Dale Carnegie and Geberit UK for their excellent support.”

Geberit UK is an active supporter of J S Wright’s training efforts, having hosted successful JSW Academy training meetings, while Dale Carnegie has been at the heart of J S Wright’s personal development courses that are available to all staff.

J S Wright, which is managing an increasing number of major housing, hotels and mixed-use sites across London and the South East, won the Outstanding Contribution to the Industry category in this year’s H&V News Awards.