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In December 2018, the NRL Group were pleased to finalise the acquisition of Intec, a local Heysham-based business with a team sharing the same energy sector expertise and industry heritage as NRL. The move quickly saw the business rebrand into the NRL Heysham branch that clients and candidates now regularly engage with each week. I remember the day well because I’d been working for Intec for many years prior to the acquisition and was already familiar with NRL’s work.
A lot has changed since the acquisition, not least how our Heysham team have grown closer to the local community and welcomed new clients and candidates as we’ve further developed our services and expertise. Our 5-year milestone provides a great opportunity to reflect on how our Heysham branch has evolved over the years.
Growing our team
There are certainly more familiar faces in the team today. When NRL acquired the Intec UK business we were already a busy team, but it’s fair to say that’s only increased since we’ve identified synergies to work with other NRL branches, extended the services we can offer to clients and seen significant strategic growth as a team.
It’s fantastic to therefore be able to identify opportunities to bring on board more colleagues, and thanks to a well-structured training programme we’re also able to give opportunities to people who haven’t necessarily worked in the industry before. Over recent years we’ve seen new people join who have never worked in recruitment, but thanks to the transferable skills they bring to the role, support from their fellow colleagues and formal training available, we’ve seen them flourish as recruiters. Many in the team have also gone on to complete the APSCo’s Inclusive+ Recruiter certification, and it’s fantastic to see them take interest in how they can play their part to help create more diverse workforces.
Our purchasing team is also experiencing the same pace of growth, and as it’s a flexible service we’re able to provide to our clients to ensure all the resources they need can be ordered and delivered, we’re seeing continued demand for our help. From arranging travel and hotel accommodation for contractors, to ordering key components to support an upgrade project, the team are so busy that we’re currently recruiting for a new Purchasing Assistant – which is fantastic to see.
Extending our services
Our recruitment expertise spans decades, which is what made our integration into the NRL Group so compatible. Since then, that’s only grown and we’re now able to offer a vast range of solutions that we tailor to the needs of our clients – from a retained workforce with the specialist engineering skills to support a busy roster of projects, to hundreds of temporary workers for outages and turnarounds.
Not everyone will know that we also offer purchasing and international services. Helping clients to mobilise workers on projects overseas whilst managing all the compliance and in-country payroll that comes with supporting workers outside the UK. As well as organising hundreds of purchase orders each month, for clients who want to be able to quickly access resources to undertake their projects or need us to manage all the requirements for their temporary workforce. From PPE to cranes and temporary traffic signaling, we’re able to work to provide purchasing support across a range of procurement categories.
Over the years we’ve built up a good reputation with clients who know we can deliver what they need, whilst trusting us to meticulously manage all the compliance and safety requirements related to their sectors. It’s these relationships that have allowed us to propose new solutions to manage their challenges, and together we’ve built resourcing and payroll models to ensure they can grow and develop their organisations.
Supporting the local community
It’s always been important to us to be able to give back and help others, which is why our annual trip around the region to collect redundant Christmas trees each January is a regular date in our diaries each year. It’s great to be able to work with other local businesses to support St John’s Hospice, who request donations for the tree collections before sending them to be broken down and sold for biomass fuel. It’s a tougher job than it looks hauling Christmas trees into the back of a van all day, but it certainly makes a change from being in the office.
In recent years though, as a team we’ve wanted to dedicate more time to helping local charities such as St John’s Hospice, and it’s been rewarding to see colleagues plan fundraising events, which has even included jumping out of an aeroplane! When the NRL Group announced their plan to support 40 charities this year to mark our 40th anniversary in business, the whole team were instantly keen to get involved. Planning a successful quiz night in aid of Wellbeing of Women, that provided a great night for all, as well as securing an additional £500 for the charity from the business to reward the team’s hard work raising donations.
Everyone in our Heysham branch gets a great deal of pride from fundraising, but this year I’ve been particularly proud to see them take up volunteering opportunities with St John’s Hospice as well. NRL provides a day’s paid leave to everyone in the business, to support a local charity or initiative that’s important to them. So we had a team meeting, and decided we’d like to get involved by volunteering at one of St John’s Hospice’s retail stores. Throughout the week the team spent time sorting through donations and helping in the store - and a huge shout out to Kat in particular who enjoyed it so much she’s signed up to regularly volunteer.
As a team there are no quiet weeks, every day there are jobs to fill for clients and purchase orders that need our attention, but it’s great to be able to make time to do things that help our local community. It’s one of the key areas when I look back over the past 5 years, I’m proud to see we’ve developed.