William Dean

Said the following about Mitchell Fairbrother:

“Mitchell has set a new standard within AECOM for what apprentices should be aiming for as he continually meets and exceeds the ever-increasing expectations he has set himself.

Mitchell has been an apprentice in the AECOM Rail Asset Management team since September 2019 and has completed several 6-month long rotations between different disciplines of the Nottingham based teams. These have involved; assisting in the reporting and delivery of major Network Rail frameworks, organization, scheduling, and planning of rail possession bookings to deliver large packages of work on the network, as well as ensuring the operational safety of site staff both via correct safety critical role planning, but also via introducing a new fatigue management system for the sector.

Mitchell was often the most junior member of the teams that he was placed in, however quickly demonstrated a maturity and understanding of the work involved which impressed the senior members of the team. This resulted in him being trusted with tasks which would typically be done by more experienced of the individual teams, initially under supervision and guidance but eventually independently.

The quality of Mitchell is demonstrated in that this progression from junior to advanced tasks consistently happened in each team he joined, with him leaving lasting impressions on the managers of each discipline.

During his time within the Site Safety Centre, he undertook crucial checks of safety critical role requirements, suitability, and availability for essential work on the rail network. This ensured that the individual safety requirements of each site were met and that the site teams accessing the network returned home safe and well. Alongside this, he helped develop and champion a new fatigue management system which is now being used to capture the shift patterns, travel times and calculated fatigue for all operatives in Rail Asset Management to better protect the work/life balance of staff.

A large part of his successes within the company are due, not only to his technical and operational understanding, but also his personality. Mitchell is a pleasure to work with, consistently bringing a positive and optimistic outlook to his work. He is not afraid to ask questions about any concepts/practices within the business and is always keen to further his understanding in other areas of the company.

His enthusiasm for learning and progressing himself has resulted in members of senior management within the sector spending time with him 1 on 1 to further his understanding in senior level decision making, purely because they can see how passionate he is about learning.

Mitchell continually impresses whichever department he is rotated into, leaving behind innovative solutions and ideas to problems along with a positive attitude for progress. He is setting a new standard for apprentices within the company, and I believe, within the sector.“