Murton & Co’s newest recruit, Jay Morgan, landed his first job in the sector after shadowing boss Jonny Murton-Lavelle – and is already finding his rhythm

What’s on your CV?

I’ve worked for the ambulance service, a delivery firm, debt management firm and recently fitted security alarms. Before that, I was a session drummer for famous singers and bands including The Rolling Stones, Emile Sandé and N-Dubz after studying music at college. It was a great experience as I got to travel and stay in swanky hotels, but the rock ‘n’ roll party life also had its dark side. When I had my first daughter, I decided I didn’t want to be gone for weeks at a time, so I walked away, and I don’t regret it. I still play for fun and in church at weekends, where I’m teaching young people to drum.

How did you become interested in the energy sector?

Last year a friend’s dad – who’d been a commercial energy assessor for 20 years – urged me to consider it as a career, so after researching carbon emissions and energy efficiency, I got interested in the subject, even though it was completely new to me. I could see the earning potential and immediately decided to sign up for the Elmhurst Non-Domestic Energy Assessor (NDEA) course, spending most of my savings on the £4,000 fee. It was a bit of a gamble, and I found the four-day course challenging and largely focused on data-entry, especially as I’m dyslexic.

How did you meet Jonny?

I didn’t have a clear career path when I started the course in February and hoped that my natural instincts would carry me through, but I lacked practical experience. I was put in touch with Jonny via a NDEA Facebook group after I heard he was offering to let trainees shadow him and left lots of messages to show how keen I was. When he called me back, Jonny told me he didn’t come across many people as interested as me! I didn’t know what to expect but was amazed when he offered to take me out on a job so I could find out how he did assessments. Even though I was such a rookie, I think he appreciated my enthusiasm and honesty. We met at a medical centre near Bath and then at a Toolstation site where he spent hours talking me through the whole process and why he was taking particular measurements. Afterwards we compared notes and checked data which really helped me make sense of what I was studying on the course.

What will your role at Murton & Co entail?

I guess Jonny saw something in me, as a few months later he offered me a full-time contract with Murton & Co, which is amazing. I’m now sitting in my new home office with a laptop and A3 printer scanner working on a report, with my certificate to prove I passed the training course. I spent my first week at Jonny’s office in Lancaster and did a joint assessment with him at a commercial bakery in Morecambe, so I’m currently processing that data. In the future, I’m going to cover the south of the UK and Jonny will cover the north, which means he won’t have to do as many crazy trips around the country. I know I’ve still got a lot to learn, and I’ll be working alongside him for my first few assessments to make sure he’s happy with what I’m doing and can see where I might need extra support.

What are your plans for the future?

I’d like to set up my own company one day, but it would be quite a challenge for someone without any experience. For now, I just want to learn as much as possible from Jonny and the team as I can, and to get help with admin and HR. I’m really looking forward to going out and meeting people as that’s what I’m good at. The software is still a little challenging but I’m confident I can master it and get to the point where I can meet every deadline. I’ll get plenty of practice as I’ve already got eight EPCs at commercial buildings around London to do before the end of September! I’m currently renting a two-bedroom flat in Harrow where there’s not much I can do about energy efficiency, but in the future, I’d like to get on the property ladder so I can have a lot more input into my own home. I did build my home office/studio out of wooden pallets and insulation, but now with all the new learning I have on energy efficiency, I’m beginning to realise what I should have done.

Do you have any advice for someone thinking about becoming a NDEA?

It might seem like taking a risk to retrain but I would urge anyone to give it a go. I’m living proof that it can work regardless of your background, after all, a year ago I would never have imagined my name with NDEA after it, but I’ve just updated my LinkedIn profile, and it looks great!