Joint honours and prizes for David and Mark

It’s celebrations all round for two employees of HJ Banks (Construction) Ltd in West Cornforth, Durham, as they will each graduate from the University of Teesside today with a BEng (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering, and receive prestigious academic prizes.

Assistant Site Engineer David Shea, 22, is only one of three people in his year to achieve a First Class degree, and has also gained the John Henderson Design Prize and the Marshall’s Group prize. While Projects Manager Mark Short, 34, achieved a 2.1 degree after four years of part-time study, as well as the Cecil M Yuill prize.

David, of Premier Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough, followed in the footsteps of his father Terry when he enrolled at the University with four ‘A’ levels in Physics, Pure and Applied Mathematics, Design and Technology and General Studies. Terry, 55, completed a Higher National Certificate in Building at Teesside Polytechnic in 1970, and now works as an Inspections Officer at Bradford and Northern Housing Association.

David joined HJ Banks in August and said: “I was over the moon to get a First, it didn’t sink in for about three days. I couldn’t have got this job without the degree.”

Mark, from Consett, has worked in the construction industry from the age of 19, and is particularly pleased that his part-time study has paid off. He said: “I’d like to thank the company and especially my wife Ann for her support. I’ve had to sacrifice quite a few weekends over the past four years, and it hasn’t always been easy to explain to my children, Michael and Ellen why 'daddy has been locked away in his room when he could be taking them out’, but it’s been well worth it.

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