This month, our co-directors Matt Evans and Dan Cope were invited to the official open day for the new STEM building at London South East Colleges’ Bromley campus.

The state-of-the-art facility – which provides advanced tools and technologies to help students develop the practical skills they need to work in the electrical, plumbing or carpentry fields – cost £5.7m to develop, and was funded by the Department for Education’s Post-16 Capacity Fund and T Level Capital Fund. It will support more than 1,000 students who are enrolled on STEM-related courses with the school.

While it was an honour to attend the opening and get a first look at this impressive 800 square metre space, it was a particularly poignant moment for Matt, who actually started his own training with LSEC when he was just 17 years old.

“After my GCSEs, I studied to become a security engineer,” he said. “I don’t think the college offers this course anymore, but it was a great start for me. I can safely say the previous building was nothing like this new STEM block!

“I decided not to go down the university route. I wanted to get experience in a hands-on industry instead. I loved getting stuck in and learning how things worked, so for me, it was one of the best choices I ever made.”

After completing his qualifications and gaining experience in various engineering roles throughout the next decade or so, Matt joined forces with Dan to establish ECS Systems in 2015. He began to adjust to his new leadership role, but his time on the tools helped him understand the challenges that his clients and his engineers were facing (and come up with ways to make their lives easier).

In a circle of events, several years later, the LSEC group agreed to instruct ECS as its security and fire safety supplier – and we have been working closely with the college’s facilities management department ever since. To date, we have taken care of a range of requirements across all campuses, including installing robust CCTV, fire alarms, intruder alarms and extinguishers onsite, as well as configuring full SALTO access control systems.

“LSEC has been a huge part of our growth as a business,” Matt said. “My close ties with the place have helped us establish a brilliant working relationship that’s built on mutual trust and a real-world understanding of what the facility needs to remain a safe and secure environment for its students.   

Matt added:

“On a personal level, it’s a privilege to partner with LSEC and help them train the next generation of skilled engineers. We are actively seeking new recruits who are ready to deal with the demands of an industry that’s quite honestly changing by the day – and we feel confident that LSEC is creating workplace-ready candidates, not least thanks to fantastic new STEM developments like this one.

“I’m living proof of what you can achieve by attending college and working your way up the ladder. I hope my story inspires LSEC alumni to get out there, forge their own path, and make a difference!”

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© ECS Systems 2024

© ECS Systems 2024