Ziad Mir and his construction firm were the focus of BBC's Homes Under the Hammer programme in December 2011.

Lambeth College Civil Engineering student Ziad Mir has recently enjoyed a whole sixty minutes of fame when he and his construction firm were the focus of BBC’s 'Homes Under the Hammer' programme.

The BBC approached Ziad after he had bought a flat at auction with the intention of refurbishing the property. Ziad spent the following months working with the programme's presenters Martin Roberts and Lucy Alexander to create a property that would make his firm a large profit over their original investment.

Ziad specialises in refurbishments, extensions and loft conversions. He has been growing his company over the past two years as well as studying on Lambeth College’s Construction and Civil Engineering - OCNLR Access to Higher Education course based at our Vauxhall Centre. He completed the course in June 2011 and has since been studying for a BSc Hons course in Construction Management at Kingston University. Ziad bought the one-bedroom flat, in Kilburn, north London, for £211,000 at auction. He then set about converting it into a two-bedroom property, renewing the plumbing, electrics and décor during the process. The property is now valued in excess of £275,000 making him a profit of £64,000 after the completion of a successful sale.

Ziad says: "I have always wanted to own my own business and be as highly qualified as I can be. The course I did at Lambeth College gave me a very good grounding and prepared me well for my degree course. In fact, it actually gave me a head-start by teaching me many things that we are currently covering at university. Every aspect of the practical and theoretical training is relevant to the work I do and has been of tremendous benefit to me. I would recommend this course to anyone who requires professional skills in the areas of construction management and civil engineering.”