This year has undoubtedly been one of shared success for Taylor Hopkinson and Brunel.
Our teams have come together to drive the energy transition, supporting the pioneering projects of over 200 clients and extending our reach into new sectors. Our people have quickly formed close-knit partnerships across teams and continents, coming together in pursuit of our common mission.
It has been “invigorating and challenging,” says Taylor Hopkinson COO Fiona McRae, “packed with relationship building, learning curves, collaboration and exciting forward planning.”
Joining forces has helped the businesses to “realise many of our strategic objectives,” says Fiona, creating “an immense professional, and compliant, platform for significant onward success.”
United by our shared values and culture, we have worked together to cement our position as the market leader for global mobility and recruitment services in renewables. That approach began just days into the merger, recalls Egon Kerkhof, a Brunel Business Development Manager who joined Taylor Hopkinson.
“My new colleague Neil Brown (our Director, Offshore Wind Contract) reached out to me on the third day after the merger, asking whether we could support one of Taylor Hopkinson’s clients in Dubai and China,” says Egon. “Since Brunel is present in both [the UAE and China], I was able to refer Neil to my colleagues in those countries. They worked together to prepare a bid, and Taylor Hopkinson Powered by Brunel was awarded a sole supplier contract: our first major win!”
It wasn’t to be the only one: winning has become a theme of this first year together. For Donna Ellcock, our Managing Director, Offshore Wind Contract, the partnership has achieved “some of the biggest and most significant wins of [Taylor Hopkinson’s] 13-year history.”
“Year one of the merger has been about integration and strengthening the foundations for our success,” says Donna. “We’ve already secured deals that wouldn’t have been possible without Brunel’s global footprint and capabilities. I’m very excited to replicate many more of our early successes as one team.”
Brunel’s Singapore-based Recruitment Manager Ryan Clark also embodied this approach, as he brought his team across to Taylor Hopkinson. “It was a great opportunity to link Taylor Hopkinson’s expertise within renewables to Brunel’s service offering in the APAC region,” says Ryan. “Taylor Hopkinson works with the world’s most respected brands in the renewables market, which is testament to our ability to do the right thing for both clients and candidates to foster long-term relationships.
“After settling into new systems, teams, and ways of working, it’s clear that our culture and passion for the industry are well-aligned. I’m looking forward to a successful 2023 and beyond.”
And after reflecting on the success of our first year together, everyone in the business is focused on future growth.
“The future is bright,” says Jilko Andringa, Brunel’s CEO. We’ve already achieved more diversification, deeper specialism, and new capabilities – I’m looking forward to other great joint successes with Taylor Hopkinson, and a stellar performance in the renewable energy sector in the years to come.”
“We’re making great progress that has exceeded all of our expectations,” says our CEO Tom Hopkinson. “We have met many talented colleagues all over the world; learned, adapted and collaborated successfully – leading to exciting results from China to the UAE, Germany to Brazil. And, importantly, we’ve had fun along the way. The key to this success to date, and our shared success in the future, is our shared values and culture.
“We can’t wait to see what 2023 brings for Taylor Hopkinson and Brunel.”
