A Day in the Life

Yvonne English, Business Manager for Fircroft

What does your job involve on an average day?

Fircroft are a people business and people stand at the heart of everything we do. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true! No two people are alike and that’s what makes our jobs so interesting and fulfilling.

There really is no average day! - I work with a team of very experienced Account Managers, Recruiters and Contractor Service Co-ordinators, who do a fantastic job of taking care of every part of our day-to-day recruitment business. We’re a busy bunch and we’re supported by a great team of professionals at our HQ in Warrington – they provide payroll, legal, compliance, marketing and IT support.

As a business, we work hard to consistently deliver a great service to our Clients, Contractors and Candidates.

As Business Manager for Fircroft’s Scotland operations, my role is to steer the business unit and continuously look for opportunities to further support Clients with innovative solutions to their workforce and recruitment challenges.

For example, the UKCS Oil & Gas market is experiencing a substantial shift in the landscape in which it operates. We have recently seen a significant increase in the number of requests to recruit staff and contractors. This, of course, mirrors a more positive market outlook – something, I think it’s fair to say, is very much welcomed by those who have been subject to the less than favourable conditions we’ve experienced over the last few years.

However, many of our Clients are coming back to this position with a need to understand where their company sits within the new labour and workforce market – What is happening in the market? Are they seen as an employer of choice? How do their salaries and rates compare to their peers? Do we expect to see skills shortages in the near future? - the answer is yes!

Having worked in the North Sea for nearly 50 years, Fircroft has an undeniable breadth of knowledge across the market – and it’s our job to use this knowledge to support each of our Clients with bespoke solutions that work in partnership with their business.

We’ve seen a number of new entrants too – companies acquiring and investing in the UKCS. Again, I think this signals positivity in our surroundings. Some of these companies have grown from a team of 4 to teams of 100 + in a matter of months. It’s a huge undertaking from a workforce perspective as many of these companies(understandably) don’t necessarily have processes in place to recruit, payroll and facilitate these larger groups of employees and Contractors. Fircroft have been able to provide some of these companies with assistance and successful implementation of recruitment/ engagement processes, payroll systems and assurance that their workforce is operating compliantly, which is hugely important.  

Back to the day-to-day, it’s completely varied – from meeting with our existing and prospective clients, supporting the team with their endeavours, networking, meeting our Contractors (probably still my favourite bit!), liaising and reporting to HQ on all our activities, to answering the phone and making the coffee!

Do you get to travel much?

Generally, most of my travel right now is across Scotland to various Client sites and offices. We have Contractors onsite from the Central Belt all the way up to Shetland. I love getting to see exactly where our Contractors work! You usually find that folk are willing and eager to show you around and of the sites I’ve visited, I’d have to say my favourites are Sullom Voe Terminal (and Shetland generally!) and Wytch Farm down in Dorset. It’s hidden away in such a beautiful part of the country.

I’ve not travelled offshore yet though, so that’s got to be on the “To do” list!

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

I’ve been really fortunate with my career at Fircroft. I’ve worked my way from Admin Assistant to Business Manager for Scotland and each step of the way has thrown in a good number of “Highlights”!

I probably can’t write this piece without mentioning a secondment I took to our Calgary office in Canada. Fircroft have always been very encouraging of internal promotions and opportunities to work across the wider business. In 2010, I put my hand up to take part in some training for International Management.

I’d already mentioned to my boss at the time that I was keen to work overseas – he was encouraging, but suggested that I give myself some time to think about it and take some training as preparation. So that’s exactly what I did. I completed the training over approximately 12 months and in late 2011, an opportunity came up.

I was ecstatic – it was a Recruitment Manager role in Canada. By April 2012, I’d finished up in Aberdeen, handed over my Clients, packed up my flat and was on a plane by myself to the other side of the world. It was the most exciting and daunting thing I’d ever done.

I spent almost a year out there working the Canadian Oil & Gas market – from the oil sands in Alberta to the offshore fields of Newfoundland. It was such an interesting time learning the Canadian business culture, the complexities of working in a business unit that spanned across different time zones and all of the new stuff I had to learn. Offshore O&G was familiar, but I’d never encountered oil sands or anywhere like Fort McMurray!

Looking back, I learned so much from that experience on both a professional and personal level. I learned how to do things through my own volition, I found out a lot about myself and I honestly, learned a lot of what not to do, too!

For anyone that’s fortunate enough to be presented with this kind of opportunity, I’d highly recommend it.  

What plans does the company have for the future and how do you see your role evolving?

The future is looking very bright for Fircroft. We’re continuing to grow both financially and geographically. Here in Scotland we are committed to providing the highest level of service and support to our contractors, clients and candidates and we have some interesting technology plans on the horizon that should make this experience even better. We’re also continuing to diversify, looking at new industries to support. Of particular interest is the offshore wind and tidal industries where Scotland is a global leader. There are going to be many new job opportunities for Oil & Gas workers with offshore experience in these new sectors and Fircroft will be at the forefront of opening up these new opportunities.

Company

Fircroft has been around since 1970, but it’s over the past decade that the business has truly become international and experienced considerable growth. Today, Fircroft have over 60 offices across 45 countries, with a particularly sizeable presence in Kazakhstan where we have 10 offices and over 300 employees!

Although Fircroft is primarily known as a recruitment company, we’ve grown to provide a variety of other services including consultancy, managed services, employer branding, contractor management and much more besides. Fircroft’s roots may be in Oil & Gas, but today they have blue chip clients in industries as varied as Automotive, Construction, Chemicals, Renewables and ICT as the continue to diversify with new market possibilities.