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Last year, we celebrated an important milestone in our history – our 40th year in business. This monumental achievement caused us to reflect on our Group over the past four decades – not just the clients we’ve been proud to work with or the candidates we’ve supported to help find fulfilling career opportunities, but also on the expansion of our business across the breadth of the UK and internationally during that time, and the communities we’ve grown to become a part of as a result.
From there, it was an easy decision to mark our 40th anniversary by collectively coming together to support the causes closest to our colleagues’ hearts, and we launched a special match funding scheme to bolster the incredible fundraising campaigns and initiatives led by our people – seeing us raise £43k in 2023, including £20k in company donations.
We were blown away by our colleagues’ hard work and dedication towards improving the lives of those around them, in and outside of work – so at the beginning of 2024 as we entered our next 3-year strategic cycle, we committed to a new £90k match funding scheme throughout its duration to continue doing our part to enrich the areas that have welcomed our teams.
What does social value mean to NRL?
At NRL, we believe that social value is at the core of our business ethos - not just a box to be ticked, but a fundamental principle that guides our actions and decisions.
Social value, to us, is about more than just financial contributions - it's about creating meaningful and lasting change in the lives of individuals and communities. It's about fostering connections, building relationships, and investing in the wellbeing of those around us. We strive to be a force for good, not just in the business world but in society as a whole.
Nurturing our Communities
As a family-owned business, we believe that our success should extend beyond our Group, and we are committed to giving back to local causes, leveraging our influence to support initiatives and engage with residents in our local areas. We have a long history of giving back and supporting our local communities, and it’s amazing to see our colleagues continue to take up the mantle and rally behind causes that matter to them.
In particular I’d like to highlight the exceptional work of our North East teams to support the next generation of talent in their region. Our Sunderland colleague Laura Smith became NRL’s first STEM Ambassador in January, and since then has led by stellar example, actively seeking opportunities to get involved, utilise her expertise and share her knowledge at mock interview sessions and careers fairs at schools across the region.
Similarly, our Teesside colleagues Allan and Tiffanie also supported over 750 students through school workshops throughout the year, showcasing exciting career prospects in engineering and the paths young people can take to make those aspirations a reality.
Elsewhere, across our teams around the country, we’ve also continued to raise vital funds and awareness for charitable organisations big and small, with 30 of our colleagues taking advantage of their annual paid charity day to get out and do some good for those around them – whether raising donations for important causes or contributing directly to supporting them.
Supporting People
At NRL, we prioritise people. From our dedication to helping candidates and contractors secure fulfilling opportunities that align with their skills, to our ongoing efforts to expand and enhance our business to welcome new team members, our focus remains on fostering a people-centred approach. We’ve long believed that this approach was the right one, that it resonates with and is welcomed by our colleagues - so it was incredibly rewarding to see our efforts to cultivate our unique culture formally recognised in July when we acquired Great Place To Work® status, after 97% of our colleagues said that we are exactly that.
Furthermore, we continue to be a positive outlier in the recruitment industry, boasting industry-leading low turnover of staff – something we’re reminded of each year as we celebrate the long service milestones of our colleagues. Throughout 2024, we were pleased to celebrate:
5 colleagues reaching 5 years of service
7 colleagues reaching 10 years of service
1 colleague reaching 15 years of service
1 colleague reaching 25 years of service
We believe our aforementioned culture is a large part of what drives people to stay with our Group, so these achievements are always a welcome sight to remind us that we’re on the right track.
We’ve also dedicated a significant amount of time and resources this year towards supporting people outside of our business. Colleagues from across our Recruitment and Rail teams put their skills into action attending regular Employment Fairs held across the country by the Career Transition Partnership, where they met and provided advice to Armed Forces veterans who have bravely served our nation and are now searching for rewarding new careers as they return to civilian life.
Introducing them to our clients, providing networking opportunities and supporting them with career advice and CV workshops has been a mutually rewarding experience, and I’m personally incredibly proud each time we see a service leaver excited to get started in a new role that’s been facilitated by a member of our team. These efforts, on top of many others throughout recent years, also saw us awarded the Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award from the Armed Forces Covenant in June this year.
Safeguarding our Planet
While engineering fuels global development, it is imperative for us to continuously assess our sustainability practices as we support international engineering endeavours. We strive to reduce our environmental footprint, operate in an eco-friendly manner, and maintain a harmonious balance between progress and conservation of our planet.
We’ve made headway in this area in a number of ways throughout 2024, like the introduction of our Rail team’s first electric fleet vehicle which provides a more energy efficient way to attend maintenance programmes across the UK’s rail tracks. We also renewed our Carbon Neutral International Standard, and this year we invested our carbon credits on a hydroelectric power plant under construction in Indonesia, which will provide crucial energy infrastructure that can generate zero emission power to displace traditional fossil fuel.
Stay tuned for more
It’s incredible to think that the activities mentioned above represent just a small fraction of the ways our colleagues have championed social value throughout the year – too many to count in one article, with dozens more examples I could point towards to highlight the wonderful ethos and desire to give back that our teams share.
And they certainly do warrant mentioning, which is why next month – and throughout the rest of 2025 – we’ll have plenty more to share in our upcoming Social Value Report, which will dive even deeper into all of the ways our colleagues are making a difference and improving livelihoods in their local areas. We look forward to sharing more in due course, and if you’re keen to make sure you don’t miss the report once published, please consider following the NRL page to stay updated with all the latest from across our Recruitment and Contracting teams.