M Squared is an award-winning commercial groundworks and civils landscaping company, founded in 2014 by Kerr McEwan, a former Saltire Scholar. The company has rapidly grown since its conception, establishing itself as a leader in delivering high-quality external works across the UK. Today, M Squared operates in Glasgow, Inverness, London, Birmingham, and Manchester, surpassing £10m in revenue and securing prestigious projects nationwide.
Kerr McEwan was first exposed to the Saltire Scholars Internship Programme in 2012 when he was an intern himself at Beam Solar in San Diego, California. A few years after his internship, during his final year at the University of Strathclyde, Kerr founded M Squared to fill a gap in the market for customer service-led delivery of external works. Over the past decade, he has grown the company into a multi-million-pound business.
Remembering the impact his own internship had on his career, Kerr was keen to provide a similar opportunity to an ambitious student while also strengthening his company with fresh talent. He recognised that hosting a Saltire Scholar was a way to bring in new ideas, fresh perspectives, and specialist skills to tackle key business challenges, while also enhancing productivity and increasing efficiency within the organisation.
Kerr saw the Saltire Scholars Programme as an opportunity to introduce new ideas and enhance efficiency within M Squared. The company promoted an Operations & Productivity Intern role through the programme, looking for a candidate to conduct an in-depth productivity analysis on construction sites.
M Squared were matched with Marcus Desante, a Mathematics and Statistic student from the University of St Andrews.
Over the summer, Marcus was tasked with analysing and improving M Squared’s contract cost estimation algorithm. He conducted a comprehensive review of onsite practices, gathered real-time data, and developed an optimised system to enhance operational efficiency. Kerr emphasised that this was a project the company otherwise wouldn’t have undertaken due to the niche statistical expertise required. Marcus’ analytical skills and innovative approach allowed M Squared to refine its processes, making their cost estimation more accurate and effective.
The impact of Marcus’ internship was clear. By applying his statistical expertise, he created, presented, and implemented a revised costing algorithm that streamlined M Squared’s contract estimation process.
His work improved efficiency, optimised resource allocation, and provided valuable insights for the business.
Kerr highlighted that hosting a Saltire Scholar was not only a way to access high-quality talent from a vetted candidate pool but also an opportunity to complete a crucial project that directly benefited the company’s long-term operations.
Reflecting on the experience, Kerr stated:
Marcus has been a great asset to our team over the summer. We conducted a productivity project to review our current onsite practices to see how accurate our assumptions are and how we can improve them. This is a project we otherwise wouldn't have undertaken given the niche statistical knowledge required for the work. It’s been great to be able to give something back as I too was a Saltire Scholar a number of years ago.
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