Nick Podevyn
Select the questions below to reveal the answers
I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked across two of the McAlpine businesses; firstly I spent eight years
at Renewable Energy Systems, initially as a Project Manager in the offshore wind department then as a Transformation Manager delivering business change in the UK, US,
Europe and Australia. In 2020 I moved to SRM where my current role is Innovation and Improvement Manager.
The military offers a very structured approach to career progression and
I found it hard navigating career progression in civvy street. I think the military is often misunderstood by civilians who tend to focus on the hard skills but I feel my military service
has provided me with many soft skills that have been directly transferable
to my business roles such as leadership, being comfortable with uncertainty, coaching, and being a team player.
Remembrance Day is quite emotional for me as I reflect on the 30 young soldiers and officers alongside me on my tour of Sangin that never came home alive. Today, as a civilian with
a wife and two young children, I also think of all the civilian casualties in current conflicts in places like
Ukraine and the Middle East.
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is
your role today?
How have you found the transition to civvy street and what strengths do
you feel you bring to
the team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance
Day mean to you?
Nick Podevyn
Innovation & Improvement Manager
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is your role today?
How have you found the transition to civvy street and what strengths do you feel you bring to the team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance Day mean to you?
From a very young age I always had a desire to be in the military,
it was my dream job. After graduating with an engineering degree
from Leeds University I went straight to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and in 2004 commissioned as an officer into the Royal Engineers and by the age of 22 I was posted to Germany to lead my first Troop of 30 soldiers and prepare for deployment to Iraq. Over the subsequent years I served in several engineer regiments and was a Company 2IC at a training regiment. By 2009 I was a Captain and deployed on combat operations to Sangin, Afghanistan as the Battlegroup Engineer for 3 Rifles Battlegroup. In this role I was responsible for all engineering activity in the district, this was a hugely demanding role and the
pinnacle of my service. Throughout my military career I feel I had the opportunity to have a go at everything on the Army recruitment
poster; Commando engineer training, postings
abroad, a biathlon ski season, training
recruits and operational tours.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked across two of the McAlpine businesses; firstly I spent eight years at Renewable Energy Systems, initially as a Project Manager in the offshore wind department then as a Transformation Manager delivering business change in the UK, US, Europe and Australia. In 2020 I moved to SRM where my current role is Innovation and Improvement Manager.
The military offers a very structured approach to career progression and I found it hard navigating career progression in civvy street. I think the military is often misunderstood by civilians who tend to focus on the hard skills but I feel my military service has provided me with many soft skills that have been directly transferable to my business roles such as leadership, being comfortable with uncertainty, coaching, and being a team player.
Remembrance Day is quite emotional for me as I reflect on the 30 young soldiers and officers alongside me on my tour of Sangin that never came home alive. Today, as a civilian with a wife and two young children, I also think of all the civilian casualties in current conflicts in places like Ukraine and the Middle East.
Rachel Smith
Head of HR – Strategy and Transformation
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is your role today?
How have you found the transition to civvy street and what strengths do you feel you bring to the team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance Day mean to you?
I was in the military for 10 years and, for
most of my service, thought that it would be my forever.
I completed three operational tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I also served with the UN in Cyprus.
My final two years in the Army was spent teaching leadership at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
I have been with SRM for nearly 13 years and I am part of the HR Senior Leadership Team currently focusing on strategy and transformation.
Many of my military friends have struggled to transition out
of the Armed Forces and so I feel very lucky with my experience.
That is down to Sir Robert McAlpine. I realised very quickly that
Sir Robert McAlpine’s culture and operating model is closely aligned
to everything that I hold dear: its values; surrounded by fantastic
people and being part of a family; and delivering great
projects through teamwork.
I am so grateful for my time in the Army. Its extensive training programmes and un-replicable experiences create resilience and determination. It teaches selfless commitment – for me, that’s commitment to Sir Robert McAlpine and those who work around me.
And it makes leaders. Leaders who can deliver, through others,
in difficult circumstances.
Remembrance is an opportunity for me to reflect on
what service means. Whether it be in my personal or professional life, I reflect on how I might better serve
others in the ways that hundreds of thousands of soldiers have done for their country through history.
I remember all those who have fallen. Specifically,
I remember the soldiers we lost during my tour of Afghanistan clearing and securing an area heavy with insurgents.
I remember them. I honour them. I respect them.
I thank them. And I thank their families who
continue to give their lives, in their loss, for service.
Andy Maxwell
Building Services Engineer
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is your role today?
How have you found the transition to civvy street and what strengths do you feel you bring to the team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance Day mean to you?
I completed my A levels at the Army sixth form college, before studying Mechanical Engineering at Newcastle University. From there I undertook Officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and commissioned into the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). I was very fortunate to have a challenging, interesting, and diverse career. This saw me undertake different leadership roles including Platoon Command, managing a recruiting team, and overseeing training. Within these roles I spent significant time away on exercises in Kenya, Canada, and Germany as well as on operations in Afghanistan. My final posting was with the 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment where I was the engineering lead for the European Union Battle Group overseeing a multinational contingent. The Army gave
me the opportunity to pursue my love for the outdoors combined
with the opportunity to lead in challenging environments.
In 2016 I left the Army and joined the Civils sector at Sir Robert McAlpine. As a Building Services Manager I’m currently working within the Healthcare sector on projects at Hexham General Hospital, Carlton Clinic and North Tyneside General Hospital.
The transition from the military can seem daunting.
On joining SRM I was very lucky to become part of a supportive project team and have a fantastic mentor in Kenny Law.
As a result of this support, I was able to quickly learn and adapt so I could succeed in my new environment. Those who have served in the military will have developed a wide range of transferable skills such as teamwork, leadership, risk management and the ability to deal with uncertainty. In addition, veterans have also lived their military career through the values that help underpin a family business such as integrity, loyalty, and support for one another.
For me Remembrance Day provides an opportunity where I can think of friends, mentors, and colleagues whose lives have been changed through conflict.
I always take the opportunity to remember those who I have served with that are sadly no longer with us. Through remembering those we have lost it provides a reminder as to why we must look for a peaceful future.
Emma Shakespeare
Senior Design Manager
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is your role today?
What strengths do you feel you bring to the team
as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance Day mean to you?
I was in OTC/Territorial Army and went on an Operation Tour of Bosnia with the Royal Engineers so was not full time in the military.
I’ve been with the business 13.5 years
and work as a Senior Design Manager.
Tenacity and able to take ownership of a problem to see it through to resolution. Draw on people’s strengths and support their weakness – recognise that as a team we are better to divide and conquer! Super organised!
It’s easy in our busy lives to forget the sacrifice that so many made which affords us the freedom we have today in this country – many don’t. War brings loss, pain and suffering, there are no winners really. Remembrance Day is a time to think of all those throughout history who paid the ultimate price of their lives and those who mourn their lost loved ones. It’s also a time to be present and think about those who are involved in current conflicts.
Select the questions below to reveal the answers
Innovation & Improvement Manager
From a very young age I always had a desire to be in the military, it was my dream job. After graduating with an engineering degree from Leeds University I went straight to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and in 2004 commissioned as an officer into the Royal Engineers and by the age of 22 I was posted to Germany to lead my first Troop of 30 soldiers and prepare for deployment to Iraq. Over the subsequent years I served in several engineer regiments and was a Company 2IC at a training regiment. By 2009 I was a Captain and deployed on combat operations to Sangin, Afghanistan as the Battlegroup Engineer for 3 Rifles Battlegroup. In this role I was responsible for all engineering activity in the district, this was a hugely demanding role and the pinnacle of my service. Throughout my military career I feel I had the opportunity to have a go at everything on the Army recruitment poster; Commando engineer training, postings abroad, a biathlon ski season, training recruits and operational tours.
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is
your role today?
What strengths do you
feel you bring to the
team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance
Day mean to you?
I was in OTC/Territorial Army and went on an Operation Tour of Bosnia with the Royal Engineers so was not full time in the military.
I’ve been with the business 13.5 years and work as a Senior Design Manager.
Tenacity and able to take ownership of a problem to see it through to resolution. Draw on people’s strengths and support their weakness – recognise that as a team we are better to divide and conquer! Super organised!
It’s easy in our busy lives to forget the sacrifice that so many made which affords us the freedom we have today in this country – many don’t. War brings loss, pain and suffering, there are no winners really. Remembrance Day is a time to think of all those throughout history who paid the ultimate price of their lives and those who mourn their lost loved ones. It’s also a time to be present and think about those who are involved in current conflicts.
Emma Shakespeare
Senior Design Manager
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is
your role today?
How have you found the transition to civvy street and what strengths do
you feel you bring to
the team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance
Day mean to you?
I completed my A levels at the Army sixth form college, before studying Mechanical Engineering at Newcastle University. From there I undertook Officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and commissioned into the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). I was very fortunate to have a challenging, interesting, and diverse career. This saw me undertake different leadership roles including Platoon Command, managing a recruiting team, and overseeing training. Within these roles I spent significant time away on exercises in Kenya, Canada, and Germany as well as on operations in Afghanistan. My final posting was with the 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment where I was the engineering lead for the European Union Battle Group overseeing a multinational contingent. The Army gave me the opportunity to pursue
my love for the outdoors combined
with the opportunity to lead in challenging environments.
In 2016 I left the Army and joined the Civils sector at Sir Robert McAlpine.
As a Building Services Manager
I’m currently working within the Healthcare sector on projects at Hexham General Hospital,
Carlton Clinic and North Tyneside General Hospital.
The transition from the military can seem daunting. On joining SRM I was very lucky to become part of a supportive project team and have a fantastic mentor in Kenny Law. As a result of this support, I was able to quickly learn and adapt so I could succeed in my new environment. Those who have served in the
military will have developed a wide range of transferable skills such as teamwork, leadership, risk management and the ability to deal with uncertainty. In addition,
veterans have also lived their
military career through the values
that help underpin a family business such as integrity, loyalty, and
support for one another.
For me Remembrance Day provides
an opportunity where I can think of friends, mentors, and colleagues whose lives have been changed through conflict. I always take the opportunity to remember those who
I have served with that are sadly
no longer with us.
Through remembering those we
have lost it provides a reminder as to why we must look for a peaceful future.
Andy Maxwell
Building Services Engineer
Please tell us a little about your military service.
How long have you been with SRM and what is
your role today?
How have you found the transition to civvy street and what strengths do
you feel you bring to
the team as a result of your service background?
What does Remembrance
Day mean to you?
I was in the military for 10 years and,
for most of my service, thought that
it would be my forever.
I completed three operational tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I also served with the UN in Cyprus.
My final two years in the Army was spent teaching leadership at the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
I have been with SRM for nearly 13 years and I am part of the HR Senior Leadership Team currently focusing
on strategy and transformation.
Many of my military friends have struggled to transition out of the Armed Forces and so I feel very lucky with my experience. That is down to Sir Robert McAlpine. I realised very quickly that Sir Robert McAlpine’s culture and operating model is closely aligned to everything that I hold dear: its values; surrounded by fantastic people and being part of a family; and delivering great projects through teamwork.
I am so grateful for my time in the Army.
Its extensive training programmes and
un-replicable experiences create resilience and determination. It teaches selfless commitment – for me, that’s commitment to Sir Robert McAlpine and those who work around me. And it makes leaders. Leaders who can deliver, through others, in difficult circumstances.
Remembrance is an opportunity for
me to reflect on what service means. Whether it be in my personal or professional life, I reflect on how
I might better serve others in the
ways that hundreds of thousands of soldiers have done for their country through history.
I remember all those who have fallen. Specifically, I remember the soldiers we lost during my tour of Afghanistan clearing and securing an area heavy with insurgents. I remember them. I honour them. I respect them. I thank them. And I thank their families who continue to give their lives, in their loss, for service.
Rachel Smith
Head of HR – Strategy and Transformation
