Michael Grace

Said the following about Ben Sutcliffe:

“There aren’t many people who make a big difference to a business within a short space of time, but Ben Sutcliffe is one of those elusive few. Since he joined SNC-Lavalin (formerly Interfleet) in August 2015, he has made a huge impact.

As UK Recruiter, Ben is the primary point of contact for all hiring managers within the SNC-Lavalin Rail & Transit team in the UK, as well as all candidates within the region.

Since joining the team, Ben has been faced with several challenges. A prime example was the company rebranding shortly after he came on board. The former Interfleet business was acquired by SNC-Lavalin in 2011, and adopted the name of its Canadian parent in January 2016.

Historically, the SNC-Lavalin name had huge brand awareness in certain global regions, but in the UK, it was not widely known until more recently. Clearly this posed a slight risk from a recruitment perspective, as there was a small chance that potential candidates in the UK wouldn’t know that SNC-Lavalin was affiliated with the well-known Interfleet business.

Despite this challenge, Ben has been directly responsible for a rise in SNC-Lavalin’s recruitment figures in the UK. In early 2015 - before Ben joined Interfleet - the team held a recruitment evening in Derby to engage with potential candidates. This proved a success, so the senior management team took the decision to repeat the event in April 2016 once the rebrand was complete.

Ben was entrusted with organising the 2016 recruitment evening, under the new SNC-Lavalin name. Ben managed the entire event, ensuring that the right people were invited from both an internal and an external perspective.

Thanks to Ben, the evening was an even greater success than the year before. The fact that the number of attendees increased by 60% year-on-year speaks for itself. But equally importantly, the quality of the potential candidates who attended - not just the quantity - was impressive.

This result is not only testament to Ben’s drive and determination, but also his ability to engage with others. To help the evening run smoothly, Ben brought together an internal project team from various parts of the business. These included representatives from each of the company’s product areas, the senior management team, HR, Communications, and Sales & Marketing.

Following the event, the feedback for Ben was highly positive, with the project team finding him to be an inspiring and motivating leader, and potential candidates commenting on his personable and reassuring manner.

The coming months are likely to be even busier for Ben, with SNC-Lavalin working on a number of high profile projects in the UK, which will require additional resources. But I can rest assured that our UK recruitment is in safe hands with him, and can think of no more deserving individual for the ‘Recruiter of the Year’ title.“