R P S G roup P lc
R P S G roup P lc
Centurion Court
85 Milton Park
Abingdon
Oxon OX14 4RY
Telephone: 01235 438151
Email: [email protected]
www.rpsgroup.com
Pay and Benefits
Training and Development
Career Development
Working Conditions
Company Culture
Biggest plus
An intellectually stimulating but commercially successful workplace.
Greatest challenge
Maintaining communications across a global enterprise.
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BRITAIN’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2009
Summary
RPS is an international consultancy. It advises on the development of natural resources, land and property,
environmental management, and the health and safety of people. Its 4,600 employees operate out of offices
in 70 major towns and cities worldwide. In the financial year ended 30 April 2007, Group pre-tax profit was
£45m, up 30% on the previous year. Fee income was £305m, a rise of 24% on 2006.
About the organisation
RPS is a British success story. Over the last 10 years, its growth rate has averaged 27.4% per annum. This
expansion, the combination of acquisitions and organic growth, has resulted in the Group majoring on
ambitious staff development and recruitment strategies. It focuses on the premium end of consultancy in
the international private sector, and also advises governments. This focus allows RPS to maintain high margins
(18% plus), far above many of its ostensible competitors.
The Group offers integrated services through three divisions. RPS Energy provides technical, commercial
and project management support to the energy sector in the fields of offshore wind, exploration geosciences,
reservoir engineering, carbon capture and storage, environmental management, decision risk management
and H&S support services. RPS Planning & Development offers town planning, urban design, transport
planning, architecture, civil and structural engineering, onshore wind, solar and tidal energy consultancy
and the full range of environmental assessment services. And RPS Environmental Management provides
advice and services in a range of areas including water management, safety and environmental liability
consultancy, occupational health, occupational hygiene, environmental laboratories, and risk management
systems to the property sector.
RPS trades in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, the Russian Federation, the United States, Canada,
Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, and undertakes projects in many other parts of the world. To give an
idea of its scale of operations, its energy division alone has an annual portfolio of over 500 projects, in over
100 countries, for over 100 clients. The Group is also known and respected for its very high-calibre people,
who continue to power its growth by satisfying and exceeding its clients’ expectations.
Among its many current projects, RPS is working on preparations for the 2012 London Olympics, advising
on planning, transport, environment, and building design and urban design; and assisting Centrica
Renewables on the development, engineering and construction of the largest wind farm under construction
in UK waters. It also recently aided Scottish Power in developing Scotland’s largest dedicated biomass-fired
energy plant, through rigorous air quality, health risk and ecological studies.
BRITAIN’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2009
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RPS Group Plc
“Over our 38-year history
RPS people have shown
remarkable ability to seek
out and develop
opportunities, whatever
the difficulties”
(Alan Hearne,
chief executive)
Drilling for oil and gas in offshore waters less than 120m deep uses a technology known as jack-up drilling
– and RPS is at the forefront of such consultancy. Its Joint Industry Project analyses data from previous
installations around the world, verifies new geotechnical predictive analytical methods, and produces
international guidelines for the safe emplacement and removal of jack-up rigs.
RPS in Newcastle, New South Wales, won the 2007 Infrastructure Category Award at the NSW Awards for
Excellence in Surveying and Spatial Information. It won the award for works undertaken on behalf of Hunter
Energy for the Seahampton to Rutherford 34.4m gas pipeline. The challenges set by the client’s needs, and
the often-rugged terrain in ecologically sensitive areas, demanded an integrated approach involving input
from all specialist aspects of the business, including ecologists, planners, surveyors and GIS (Geographic
Information System) mapping.
Pay and Benefits
Company Culture
RPS is a company at ease with itself. People are expected to work really hard – but that work is satisfying and stimulating.
It makes a difference in society and aims to add value to its client’s activities – as the amount of repeat business from
existing clients testifies. As Chairman Brook Land says, “Our mix of skills and the depth of experience of our staff enable
us to advise our clients on some of the major issues of the twenty-first century.”
The generally relaxed working environment and flat management structure encourage everyone to socialise with their
colleagues. This may be the one of very few companies where “having fun” appears to be written into the five-year
plan! Graham McMorran, technical director: “Working with RPS is about total commitment – but at reasonable levels.
We won’t expect people to work at weekends, for example. Some industries, architecture for instance, are notorious
for asking ridiculous hours of employees. That sort of thing means that deadlines are not being managed properly.”
Individual offices have their own character, partly reflecting regional differences and the varied professions, although
increasingly, a Group culture is emerging. Projects often involve liaising with different offices and even different
divisions, and many employees will find themselves working in multi-disciplinary teams with people in other RPS locations.
RPS is acknowledged as one of the better payers in its sector, and is in the upper quartile. This is no accident.
Lamont: “We have to recruit and retain the best people if we are to maintain our rate of growth. We promote
from within, but we also need very talented individuals from elsewhere.” That includes some high-flying women
looking for challenging and rewarding work to return to after career breaks, and RPS has recruited a
number of these in recent years.
A bonus is paid, but more as an added extra. When the team’s targets are met, the bonus is good; if they’re
not met, there may still be a divisional bonus element as appropriate. However, the approach at RPS is more
about boosting wages rather than making people rely on bonuses to sustain their standard of living.
There is a range of flexible working possibilities, supported by the i-zone project management system in
place at many larger offices across the UK and Ireland. There are also outstanding Intranet and Extranet
systems that allow people to identify colleagues by skill set, project experience and so on.
Non-cash rewards are included in an excellent flexible benefits scheme. This comprises everything one would
expect of a top Plc, including life assurance, childcare vouchers, a private healthcare plan and discounts
at nurseries and gyms. There is also a portable, independently administered, contributory pension scheme
»
The Group culture overlays a very strong departmental ethos reinforced by regular team meetings, with directors definitely
a part of the team rather than closeted in inaccessible locations. As Douglas Lamont, the Group’s business information
manager, puts it, “Everyone is totally committed to achieving a positive result and works closely with colleagues to
make it happen.”
If you are a team player who is articulate, and displays practicality and creativity in equal measure, you probably have
what’s needed to succeed at RPS. Good communication skills are vital, since you will have to deal professionally with
other in-house experts, clients and often many other stakeholders. A poor communicator, however brilliant, is unlikely
to shine here.
Innovation and Creativity
Instances of the Group’s innovative and creative solutions are too numerous. RPS assisted OpenHydro with the design
of the first grid-connected tidal device in the UK, a 250kW tidal turbine demonstrator unit at the European Marine Energy
Centre test site in Orkney. This novel multi-bladed turbine is operated by the ebb and flow of tides rather than by wave
movement, and its open centre minimises the effect on marine life.
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BRITAIN’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2009
If you are a team player
who is articulate, and
displays practicality and
creativity in equal
measure, you probably
have what’s needed to
succeed at RPS
BRITAIN’S TOP EMPLOYERS 2009
232
R P S G roup P lc
“We have to recruit and retain the best
people…we promote from within, but
we also need very talented individuals
from elsewhere”
(Douglas Lamont, group business
information manager)
There is plenty of opportunity to move around within the Group, and to undertake projects overseas. As
Lamont says, “People can add to their knowledge and get a lot of additional experience without leaving
the company.”
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Group’s success is in large part a result of its reputation as a trustworthy business partner that
promotes sustainability within its own operations and in client projects. It is proud to have been included
in the FTSE4Good index of leading companies since its inception in 2001.
RPS is heavily involved in many of its local communities. During the financial year to 30 April 2007, the company
and its staff gave or raised over £214,000 in charitable contributions. Adding in the £153,000 spent on
academic bursaries and educational initiatives not connected to staff training, the Group’s total contribution
to the communities in which it operates was over £367,000.
that allows users to put in as much of their salary as they wish; the employer also contributes up to 10% depending
on the job level.
RPS also has various tax-free share purchase plans open to most employees, including one that doubles the number
of shares purchased after three years. “We have one of the best share purchase plans in the industry,” says Lamont.
Senior staff have a share plan linked to their performance which gives them some free shares.
Career Development
As McMorran puts it, “graduates are the lifeblood of RPS.” The Group operates more than one graduate recruitment
scheme, and upwards of 100 new graduates will be taken on worldwide each year. One graduate entrant to the Group
became a senior director less than 10 years after joining. RPS also operates a scheme whereby undergraduates can
join the company for a year’s industrial work placement, then go back to university to finish their course. The Group
has strong relationships with many universities from Oxford and Cambridge to those more local to its many regional
centres, such as Imperial College, UCL, Brunel, University College Cardiff, Dundee, Loughborough, Southampton,
Nottingham, Lincoln, Sheffield, Huddersfield, UAE, UWA, Manchester and Leeds Metropolitan Universities or Queens
University Belfast.
The Group supports Tree Aid and its educational, tree planting and woodland conservation programmes
in sub-Saharan Africa with charitable donations towards its work in Mali.
During 2008 and 2009, RPS will commit £45,000 annually to provide three Urban Design Scholarships, working
in partnership with the publishers of the Architects’ Journal and in association with Design for London (now
part of the London Development Agency).
The Group contributes to environmental management in many of the projects that it undertakes for clients.
It advises international bodies, governments, local authorities and private companies on improving their
environmental performance. Internally, 52% of the electricity purchased by RPS in the UK in the last financial
year was from a ‘Green’ tariff, and this figure will continue to rise in the coming years. It is also switching
to lower-emission vans and company cars, reducing the energy consumption of its offices and introducing
minimum environmental standards for all new offices and office refurbishment.
RPS maintains and implements documented Quality Management Systems in certain parts of its
business to ensure compliance with ISO 9001. The Group also has a detailed financial reporting management
system that includes checks and reviews, financial modelling, accountability and transparency at
every level.
RPS has plenty of young minds – but there is certainly no ageism in the organisation. There are also large numbers
of people in their thirties, forties and fifties and even those aged 65 and over!
The Group invests heavily in training, well above the industry average. It runs its own training schemes, many
accredited with professional bodies. There is also considerable day-release degree study, combining salary-earning
work with a professional qualification.
Succession management and staff mobility are particularly well handled at RPS. It encourages staff to register their
areas of interest on a central online jobs database so that they automatically receive immediate notification by email
of all relevant job opportunities a week before adverts appear in the press. During 2008, RPS introduced new online
staff appraisals as part of its developing centralised HR system. These allow all employees to check and update their
own personal records, qualifications and working requirements; employees can apply for annual leave (which includes
a degree of buy-back flexibility). Staff can also apply for further training using this system. Managers can then
approve applications in real time online.
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Facts and figures
Total number of staff:
4,600 worldwide, 2,550 in the UK
Office location: Abingdon, Oxon and 70 major towns and cities globally
Industry sector: Consultancy
Turnover: £470.5m (2008)
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