Small business beats national and international rivals to be named Employer of the Year 2015
A company of mechanical and electrical engineering consultants have returned victorious from the prestigious Young Engineers Awards after being named Small Business Employer of the Year and Employer of the Year 2015.
The awards, presented annually by The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), was held at The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, in September and saw Services Design Solution team beat off national and international companies to take the coveted national title Employer of the Year. The company was nominated for the awards in recognition of their ‘excellent commitment made to the development of young engineers’.
Managing directors Shaun Hoppins and Richard Johns, who founded SDS ten years ago, said the awards were a credit to their team’s training and development initiatives and the hard work of their apprentices and graduates.
Shaun said: “As a small consultancy it was extremely rewarding to win CIBSE’s Employer of the Year award for our business category and astounding to win the overall category against prestigious national and international practices.”
Richard said: “During the last 24 months we have implemented a Professional Qualifications Training Scheme as a road map for freshly qualified young engineers to achieve accreditation.
“Our structured training plan targets the technical and personal development of young engineers to become competent. The training plan is developed during the staff appraisals and is reviewed and updated by the trainee’s line manager and personal mentor.”
In common with many engineering companies around the country, SDS say recruiting the right calibre of engineers is increasingly challenging. They have found schools, colleges and even some universities lack awareness of the role of a building services engineer, resulting in a lack of interest in considering this as a career option. SDS have striven to raise awareness of the profession. Richard said: “We have worked with schools at both primary and secondary level to try and assist them in promoting our specialism.
“This includes working with a local primary school on a scheme called Widening Horizons to raise levels of aspirations and interest in engineering. We also support a local secondary school in their career academies mentoring programme, in addition to providing opportunities for work experience and summer placements.”
