Brunel and Taylor Hopkinson celebrate first year of shared success

The beginning of our successful partnership

On December 8^th, 2021, Brunel International N.V. announced that it was joining forces with Taylor Hopkinson, a specialist recruitment partner for the Renewable Energy sector. Graeme Maude, COO of Brunel, remarks that from the very beginning it was clear that Brunel was working with a high-quality partner. He further adds: 

“In the period subsequent to the acquisition, my expectations as to the quality of the business are continually surpassed. This extends to its leadership, processes, people, marketing positioning and culture."

Our first major win

By combining Brunel’s extensive global footprint with Taylor Hopkinson’s deep sector knowledge, we were able to develop a unique selling proposition that enabled us to secure early wins. Egon Kerkhof, former Bruneller and now Business Development Manager at Taylor Hopkinson, recalls:

“On the third day after the merger, my new colleague Neil Brown (Director, Offshore Wind Contract at Taylor Hopkinson) reached out to me, asking whether we could support one of their major clients in Dubai and China. Since Brunel is present in both countries, I was able to refer Neil to my colleagues in the UAE and China. They worked together to prepare a bid, and Taylor Hopkinson Powered by Brunel was awarded a sole supplier contract.”

In the following months, we continued our winning streak and celebrated significant tender wins with some of the world’s leading offshore wind farm owners and operators. Donna Ellcock, Managing Director at Taylor Hopkinson, points out:

“Deals like that would have not been possible without Brunel’s capabilities and have firmly cemented us as the market leader for global mobility and recruitment services in the Renewable Energy industry.”

One team with a common purpose

Our people have formed close-knit partnerships across teams and continents, coming together in pursuit of our common mission: to build a diverse and global workforce that will drive the world's transition to sustainable energy.

“It’s been a whirlwind 12 months”, says Graeme Maude, COO of Brunel. “But through the integration process, we have discovered the best ways of working together which play to both the strengths of Brunel and Taylor Hopkinson. This creates a powerful combination that provides us with a strong platform which will accelerate our growth in the renewables market."

Moreover, Tom Hopkinson, CEO of Taylor Hopkinson, remarks that our people, internal employees, and specialists, have played an integral part in the successful merger integration process. “We have met many talented colleagues all over the world; learned, adapted and collaborated successfully – leading to exciting results from China to the UAE, Germany to Brazil. And, importantly, we’ve had fun along the way. And of course, the key to this success to date, and our shared success in the future, is our shared values and culture."

2023 Outlook

“2022 has been an invigorating and challenging year, packed with relationship building, steep learning curves, collaboration and exciting forward planning”, notes Fiona McRae, COO of Taylor Hopkinson. 

Together, we currently support the projects of more than 200 clients globally with our 1,000 renewables specialists and have gained a strong foothold on the market. But what’s in store for 2023 and the years to come? According to Fiona, Taylor Hopkinson and Brunel will continue to nurture and develop its people, culture, technology, facilities, and expertise. Moreover, the renewable electricity growth worldwide is accelerating faster than ever and the demand for experts in this field will continue to increase. “This means that we will be able to unlock even more exciting opportunities”, says Jilko Andringa, CEO of Brunel. “Thus, this acquisition is the perfect example of what we aim to achieve moving forward: more diversification, deeper specialism, and new capabilities.”