ASTUTE - Power Generation Recruitment Specialists

Power Generation Recruitment Specialists

Astute Technical Recruitment Ltd 1000 Lakeside, Western Road, Portsmouth, PO6 3EN

Phone: 02392 221 600 Fax: 02392 288 288

Engineering Construction Commissioning Operations & Maintenance

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Outline of Company History and General Experience

Astute Facts - Astute is made up of 2 Divisions. 1 focusing on Construction and Commissioning, the other on Operations, Maintenance & Engineering.

Introduction to ASTUTE - Formed in 2006, Astute is the UK Power Generation sector’s leading

Recruitment Consultancy, with a firm focus on Construction, Commissioning, Operations, and

Maintenance & Engineering. Since inception Astute has placed over 400 permanent project,

construction, operations, maintenance and engineering staff into power stations of varying technologies

across the country and we currently have in excess of 100 contractors around the UK on construction/

commissioning projects too. Combining an unrivalled understanding of the industry, nearly a century of

accomplished recruitment experience within our consultants and a genuine passion for the industry.

Whether your need is for a single high-calibre individual or “crewing-up” an entire new power station,

Astute have the tools and expertise to ensure your recruitment requirements are met on time and within

budget. Our services include:

• Permanent recruitment

• Contract recruitment

• Executive search

• Recruitment campaign management

• Consultancy services

• O&M “Crewing-Up” services

• “EPC Management” team supply

• Assessment centres

• Market information

• Psychometric profiling

Astute is a preferred recruitment partner for many of the UK’s energy businesses, large and small.

We’re not geography restricted and have delivered major recruitment campaigns across the UK whilst

maintaining exceptionally high standards of quality.

EPC Management – We have successfully supplied management & supervisory staff to the main EPC

contractors and clients during the Construction and Commissioning phase of many a new build power

station, energy from waste or biomass plant. With a very strong network and 1st class understanding of

the requirements of key skills to deliver an EPC project on time and within budget, Astute has

developed a strong reputation for being able to source the best people in the shortest amount of time.

Crewing-Up - We have successfully worked with 10 power stations/ energy from waste/ biomass

plants during the “crewing-up” stages of their projects and have developed a niche service designed for

new build sites requiring large numbers of high calibre O&M staff. Building a plant is obviously a busy

time for all involved and ASTUTE’s Crewing-Up service aims to help lessen the impact of the time

consuming recruitment process that can often mean handling hundreds of CV’s and enquiries.

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Astute Facts - Astute have “crewed-up” 10 newly built power stations including the largest Energy from Waste plant in the UK.

Experience with Technologies - We’re familiar with a wide variety of generation technologies from

conventional Coal and Gas Thermal Stations to the new breed of Anaerobic Digestion and

Gasification Energy from Waste plants, and everything in between.

It’s understanding the differences in these technologies as well as similarities that allow us to find

well matched candidates, appropriately question their suitability and recommend only the best for the

role at hand. Using industry specific literature, attending relevant conferences and events, and our

contacts within the industry we strive to stay well educated about new technologies to give us a

competitive edge over our rivals.

By 2014 we have placed over:

• 206 staff in Energy from Waste Power Stations.

• 70 staff in Biomass Power Stations.

• 51staff in CCGT Power Stations.

• 12 staff in Coal Power Stations.

• 66 staff in Combined Heat and Power Stations.

• 2 staff on Wind Farms

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These figures accurately reflect permanent recruitment activity over the last eight years. With more EfW and Biomass

Power Stations being constructed there have been opportunities to place more people compared to the contingency

recruitment that’s taken place with well established CCGT and Coal Power Stations.

In addition we have supplied over 450 contractors into the industry, mainly focused on Construction and

Commissioning, but also a decent number in Operations & Maintenance


Astute Facts - Astute was ranked 36th in the Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 Companies list in December 2013.

Knowledge of Positions - We’re able to provide experienced and qualified staff to fill any O&M position

on a power station including but not limited to Shift Team Leaders, Control Room Operators,

Maintenance Technicians, Engineers, Operations Managers, Maintenance Managers, Engineering

Managers, Plant Managers, Site Chemists, Project Engineers, Health & Safety and much more.

On the EPC side, we have a firm grasp of the market and regularly place Construction & Commissioning

Managers, Commercial Managers/ Quantity Surveyors, Mech, Elec, C&I Supervisors, Quality Managers/

QA Engineers, H&S Managers/ CDM-Cs, Commissioning Engineers, Completions Engineers, PTW

Engineers, SAPs, Document Controllers and many more.

Having a solid understanding of the roles we recruit is critical to maintaining a high level of success .

For example, we guarantee you will NEVER receive a domestic electrician in application for an Electrical

Engineer vacancy!


• 182 Plant Operations staff.

• 151 Engineering and Maintenance staff

• 33 Senior Managers including Plant Managers,

Operations Managers and Maintenance Managers

• 41 Plant Support/ Head Office roles including

Site Chemists, Quality Engineers, HSE Engineers

and Project Staff

These figures represent permanent members of

staff and don’t take into account our considerable

contract business supplying construction,

commissioning and engineering support to new

build power stations.

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Astute Facts - Astute are members of the REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) in order to maintain a high level of compliance.

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Regions Serviced - Astute are able to service the whole of the UK and indeed the world from our

office in Portsmouth. Our consultants are highly trained to be able to qualify candidates by means of

a telephone interview. They also have access to Skype and our bespoke software both of which

allow us to see candidates should it be deemed necessary. For specific projects where mass

recruitment is required such as a “crewing-up” projects, Astute can rent local offices in order to meet

all candidates face-to-face and to give us a local presence.


• 122 staff in the South East

• 84 staff in the Midlands

• 49 staff in East Anglia

• 48 staff in the South West

• 55 in the North East

• 28 in the North West

• 14 in Scotland

• 4 in Wales

• 3 Overseas

These figures accurately represent the spread of

power stations across the United Kingdom with regards

to permanent recruitment.

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Recent Relevant Experience

Astute Facts - Astute are members of the EIC (Energy Industries Council) – showing our commitment to the Energy / Power Generation sector.

.

On a daily basis we recruit Construction, Commissioning, Operations, Maintenance and Engineering

staff into the Power Industry making all of our experience relevant, in fact by mid 2014 we’ve already

been involved this year with 3 Crewing Up projects and 4 new EPC projects

North Hykeham (Lincs) Energy from Waste power

station is the latest is a £145million project that was

completed in 2013 for FCC. 150ktpa/ 11MW

Astute were contracted to support FCC’s own O&M

recruitment process, providing candidates to be

considered alongside their own proactive efforts.

Astute worked with CNIM to provide key EPC

management and commissioning skills to their site

based team

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Project - North Hykeham Energy from Waste Power Station – Recruited in 2013

Reference – “We engaged Astute to assist FCC Environment with the task of recruiting the O&M Team during the

mobilisation phase of our new build Energy from Waste plant at North Hykeham, Lincs. After supplying our O&M

Manager initially, Astute provided a quality selection of candidates for the remaining roles, resulting in successfully

sourcing over half of our team, including 4 Shift Team Leaders, 5 Shift Operations Technicians and 3 Maintenance

Technicians. The whole service from Astute, which was led by Matt Dickens, was very honest and professional and

I was confident that they were really trying to deliver the best candidates, rather than bombard us with a large

volume. I would have no hesitation in using Astute again in the future to assist with ongoing needs or for similar

new build campaigns.”

Mark James - General Manager with FCC Environment Ltd

DD: 07833 046 909 Email:[email protected]

Key Personnel

Astute Facts - Astute have assisted a number of Power Stations to re-deploy their staff after plant closure.

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NAME: Terry Buckel

POSITION: Owner / Managing Director – Astute Technical Recruitment

TIME WITH ASTUTE: 8 years

PROPOSED ROLE ON PROJECT: Terry will have ultimate responsibility for project

delivery

BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE: After a career in the Royal Navy where he

served as the equivalent of a Plant Manager on a Nuclear Power Plant, Terry decided

to move into recruitment. For five years he worked for another agency before deciding

to start Astute. He started Astute after identifying a clear gap in the market for a

technically competent recruitment business to service the Power Generation industry.

Terry has always been a hands on Managing Director and to this day sits central in the

office and regularly makes placements. He’s well known within the industry and often

turned to for professional advice by clients and candidates alike. Terry has overseen all

our “Crewing-up” projects, stepping in as required to get the job done. Terry will support

the process to ensure a high level of quality.

RECOMMENDATION: “I have known Terry for about 5 years and in that time I have

witnessed Astute grow from strength to strength, which I believe is due to his passion

and knowledge for the Power Generation industry. Rarely do you meet a recruiter that is

as knowledgeable about the industry they recruit for, with the attention to detail that

Astute pride themselves for. Not only that, he delivers on his promise to find the best

available candidates, whenever I have needed him to assist. Terry has built up a team

that can also deliver, as I have dealt with a number of his staff on different projects over

the years. I would happily recommend Terry and his team at Astute, to anyone that is

interested in a career within the Power Generation industry and to any companies that

want to work with an honest, reliable and effective recruiter.”

Howard Dray, former Plant Manager, Enfield CCGT

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Key Personnel

Astute Facts – Astute runs the Power Generation Careers group on LinkedIn, which currently has over 40,000 registered members.

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NAME: Stuart Roberts

POSITION: Construction & Commissioning Recruitment Manager


PROPOSED ROLE ON PROJECT: Stuart will be responsible for the delivery of

Construction/ Commissioning and EPC Team recruitment services.

BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE: Stuart joined Astute in 2011 with a solid

background and 10 yrs experience in Construction recruitment. He transferred this

expertise into the Power Generation sector and built a team of Consultants to support

this effort. He has a genuine interest and passion for Construction.

RECOMMENDATION: “I've always found Stu an absolute pleasure to deal with, very

professional and thorough also extremely helpful to me as a candidate.

He's able to offer great advice on the companies he deals with and on the positions he

fills, which shows he's put in an extensive amount of research, he deserves all the

success that comes his way.

Before being contacted by Stu and his associates, the thought of working in the power

industry had never entered my head, a year and a half years late I'm in a well paid

position and hopefully looking forward to a 'bright' future, I really can't thank him

enough.

I would be more than happy to recommend him to any prospective recruiters and

candidates.”

Phil Moore, Site Manager, Bucks EfW plant

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Key Personnel

Astute Facts - Astute invests in its staff – all of the O&M team have attended specific Power Plant Operations courses with E.ON training academy.

.

NAME: Matt Dickens

POSITION: O&M Recruitment Manager


PROPOSED ROLE ON PROJECT: Matt will manage the delivery of O&M recruitment

and “Crewing-up” services

BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE: Matt was the first employee at Astute. He joined

as a Trainee Consultant in February 2007 and quickly developed through the positions

of Consultant, Senior Consultant and then Recruitment Manager. He now leads

Astute’s O&M team.

Matt has been involved in delivering all of Astute’s “crewing-up” projects, mostly as the

Project Manager. His experience in this area is second to none. In addition, he has also

built up long-standing relationships within the UK Power sector, which has resulted in

him often being the first point of call when a power station needs to recruit.

Notably Matt came “Highly Commended” in the REC Recruitment Awards for the “Best

Newcomer to Recruitment” category beating hundreds of hopefuls to second place in

2008.

RECOMMENDATION: “Matt and his entire team at Astute always provide excellent

candidates for potential recruitment. He has an excellent personal knowledge of our

business, from both a technical and networking perspective. He ensures that he

supplies only the best people for with the best attributes for any particular position. He

also maintains an excellent relationship with his clients”

Paul Newby, former Shift Team Leader at Coryton CCGT

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Other Information

Astute Facts – Astute has placed over 450 contractors into Construction & Commissioning roles in the Power Generation sector in the UK & Europe.

.

What makes Astute different? - The power industry is extremely close knit and bad news travels

fast! Our excellent reputation, and maintaining this, is of paramount importance to us. We achieve

this by ensuring a high quality cost-effective expert recruitment service. We aim to achieve a high

level of quality in all we do, in particular the key points that separate us from our competitors include:

1. Exclusive Candidates

Our recruitment database is populated

with candidates exclusively available

to Astute as they trust us to help map

their careers and allow us exclusive

rights to work on their behalf. Our

reputation as an industry leading

specialist often drives candidates that

are tentatively interested in moving but

don’t want to put their details in the

public domain to register with us.

Additionally we attend specific industry

events, assist in outsourcing

candidates who are facing redundancy

from other power stations and run the

40,000 strong Power Gen Careers

group on Linked-in.

2.Technical Knowledge

We really do understand the industry we’re recruiting into, in fact

on several occasions our staff have been mistaken for

engineers. Not only do we take every opportunity we can to get

on site and learn more about the technologies of the industry,

we’ve also completed courses with E.on’s Engineering Academy

designed to give us a better insight into the roles we recruit.

Above – Our Senior

Consultant Dan Bisset

learning to operate a coal

mill on a training simulator

3.Technical Qualification

We’re able to question candidates

not only to assess their personality

profile and ambitions but also their

technical competency. This

involves getting candidates to

answer discipline specific

competency based questions,

which have been developed with

experienced power station

managers, to test technical

knowledge. When we provide

candidates to our clients we

provide a professional synopsis as

well as the candidate’s answers,

word for word, to our set questions.

4.Accuracy

All of the points above – Exclusive

Candidates, Technical Knowledge

and Technical Qualification allow us

to provide a high degree of accuracy

when short listing CVs for our clients.

This means less of your time is spent

sifting through irrelevant CVs, thus

saving you time and money.

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Other Information

Astute Facts – Astute’s website is the highest ranking company on Google for searches such as “Power Station Jobs” and “Power Station Recruitment”.

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Riverside Energy from Waste Power Station is the

biggest of its kind in the UK and our flagship project.

£570million, 72MW, 585ktpa. We were exclusively

contracted to provide all 53 staff from Plant Manager

through the O&M teams to security & weighbridge staff.

We managed every aspect of this project including:

1. Creating co-branded adverts which were placed

internet job boards and local newspapers.

2. Created job descriptions, personal specifications

and advised on shift patterns and staffing

structures.

3. Fielded all applications including direct applicants

thoroughly qualifying all to the same standard.

4. Worked with local businesses making

redundancies such as GSK to demonstrate Cory’s

dedication to sourcing staff locally.

5. Delivered a comprehensive shortlist

6. Organised an assessment centre in the local area

including HR and Technical interviews,

psychometric testing, technical comprehension

testing, scenario based group exercise and group

lunch

7. Facilitated offers.

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Project - Riverside Energy from Waste – Recruited in 2011

We would also like to provide you with details of additional projects that we have been involved with.

For a reference on this project please contact Quentin

Gillett (Plant Manager) on 07827 916475

Astute also worked closely with the EPC

Contractor, Hitachi Zosen Inova and the

Owners Engineer, Fichtner Consulting

Engineers. We provided on a contract basis

the following skills:

• Construction Project Manager

• Health & Safety Manager/ CDM-C

• WSC Supervisor

• Electrical Supervisor

• Senior Authorised Person

Other Information

Astute Facts – Astute has the best track record, the best candidates and can offer the very best recruitment package for a new-build Power Plant – FACT

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Marchwood Power Station is a large £320million, 842MW

CCGT Power Station.

Astute were contracted to work alongside Marchwood

Power’s own proactive recruitment activities and initially

supplied 9 members of the O&M team including 1

Maintenance Manager, 5 Maintenance Technicians and 3

Operators.

Astute also supplied the EPC contractor, Siemens, with a

number of key supervisory and management staff for

Construction & Commissioning activities

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Project - Marchwood Power Station – Recruited in 2008

Other EPC/ Crewing Up projects we’ve been involved include:

Newhaven EfW Power Station

Veolia Environmental Services

Hitachi Zosen Inova

Great Blakenham EfW Power Station

Sita Suez

CNIM

Four Ashes EfW Power Station

Veolia Environmental Services

CNIM

West Burton CCGT

EDF Energy

EDF CIT

Power Generation Recruitment Specialists

Astute Technical Recruitment Ltd 1000 Lakeside, Western Road, Portsmouth, PO6 3EN

Phone: 02392 221 600 Fax: 02392 288 288

All queries should be directed to one of the following contacts:

Name: Matt Dickens

Position: O&M Recruitment Manager

Email: [email protected]

Direct Dial: 02392 288 210

Mobile: 07976 484 179

Name: Terry Buckel

Position: Managing Director


Direct Dial: 02392 288 200

Mobile: 07967 447 087

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Name: Stuart Roberts

Position: EPC Recruitment Manager


Direct Dial: 02392 288 212

Mobile: 07917 010582

ASTUTE - Power Generation Recruitment Specialists

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