Sam Boone, a junior building services engineer at property and construction consultancy Ingleton Wood, met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth following his involvement in a programme to create and inspire the next generation of Built Environment professionals.

Sam is an ambassador for the engineering training programme, Class of Your Own’s Design Engineer Construct! (DEC!),

He was one of a handful of young people picked to meet the Queen at an event that was part of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, held in London.

DEC! is an initiative that sees school students partnered with firms such as Ingleton Wood to enable them to discover from an early age the vast array of roles within the construction industry.

Ingleton Wood partnered with Sam’s school, Clacton Coastal Academy a year ago and as a result of the relationship, they offered the 19-year-old a job.

Now based in the firm’s Colchester office, Sam said: “It was a tremendous privilege to meet her and be able to provide a small insight into what the DEC! programme involves. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity and I came away even more inspired and motivated to progress my own career and skills.”

Laura Mansel-Thomas, partner for Building Services at Ingleton Wood, who co-ordinates the DEC! scheme at the firm, said: “Meeting the Queen is such a thrilling start to Sam’s career.”

She said: “The partnership between the school and our industry means we get the chance to nurture home-grown talent and see young people started on exciting careers.”

Students from the academy visit the firm twice a week for one or two years and work alongside the architects, surveyors and building services teams.

They learn about all aspects of the industry including planning, Computer-aided design (CAD) and project management and as a result Sam was hired in September.

The firm, which has offices in Colchester, London, Norwich, Billericay and Cambridge, now has around 200 employees and is a market-leading, regional multi-disciplinary practice with national expertise across a variety of sectors.