What We Do
Recruitment across the Built & Natural Environment
ALLEN & YORK have a unique blend of recruitment skills and technical knowledge. Every consultant is an expert in their field and has an extensive specialist network.
We are dedicated to making a positive difference to the global sustainable economy, by continuing to deliver excellent specialist recruitment services across our markets.
Our
Latest Jobs
Filter By
Are you looking to recruit?
We work with a variety of companies, from start-ups and SMEs, to global organisations. We are highly consultative in our approach.
Whether you need to staff a whole project team or make a single hire, we can tailor our delivery model to suit your exact requirements.
Are you looking for a job?
We believe in ethical, open and honest communication, and take the time to fully understand what you want from your next career move.
We always have new job opportunities, and would encourage you to register with us today, so you don't miss out!
Stay Updated
Latest News
-
Virtual Reality Rail Training for New Generation of Engineers
The National College for High Speed Rail (NCHSR) was created mostly to focus on HS2, but boasts a curriculum packed with enough transferable skills to serve future generations of engineers. Plugging the skills gap is a major concern and the NCHSR are offering exciting technologically focused training courses to entice and skill the next generation of rail engineers. The National College’s specialist kits, donated by partners in the sector, it will be able to stay constantly up to date and guarantee its students are learning with “absolutely best-in-class” equipment. For example, as we don't know what an HS2 train will look like yet the National College's specialist kits need to stay of top of constant updates. The most recent example of this is the Eurostar 'power car' donated by Alstom to both colleges. The 25-tonne power cars – previously used to carry more than 160 million passengers from London to Paris and Brussels at high speeds are being given a new lease of life after retiring. They will be transformed into an augmented reality classroom, incorporating the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets. Students at the college will be able to experience an interactive 3D recreation of the existing Eurostar cab configuration and virtually drive the train from September – but once the HS2 train is designed, VR equipment will be updated accordingly. As well as saving time and money by dropping the need to get a new train altogether, it will also make learning as exciting as possible. The NCHSR will run one-day and one-week upskilling courses for existing staff, however the main course offering are two distinct options: apprenticeships Level 4 high-speed rail and infrastructure higher technician apprenticeships and Level 5 operations and departmental manager apprenticeships. Both are excellent routes into the industry and are both have a strong focus on hands-on learning and employability. “We’d stop short of saying it’s a guaranteed job, but the skills shortage in the industry is so marked that I would be pretty confident that all of our students will walk straight into a job when they finish studying with us, because that’s what businesses tell us they need. They’re absolutely crying out for new people.” Beth Curtis, Head of Partnerships and Communications at the NCHSR (RTM, Sept 2017) To find out more visit NCHSR Browse jobs in rail
-
Traffic Increases on Britain’s Roads
In the most recent road traffic report published by the Department for Transport (DfT), the number of vehicle miles travelled in Britain is up by 1.4% and the number of vehicles registered/licensed was up 1.9% on the previous year. Annual traffic has risen each quarter for the last four years and there has also been a rise in traffic on rural A-roads, which may indicate that drivers are seeking alternative routes due to congestion on the main thoroughfares. The continued increase in traffic and congestion reinforces the need for investment into Britain's infrastructure and at ALLEN & YORK we are seeing an uplift in demand for highways professionals. Major highways projects include upgrades to A14 Cambridge to Huntington, the A63 in Hull and the A38 in Derby. Highways England have pledged to deliver the £15billion of investment in England’s motorways and major A roads as described in the Government’s Road Investment Strategy, with over £11bn having been committed between 2015 and 2020. Browse highways jobs
-
Tackling the Affordable Housing Crisis
London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced his plans to spend £250 million on buying land to tackle the cities affordable housing crisis. House prices in London have risen by 90% over the last ten years, putting it way out of reach of average wage earners. Across the country there has been a 19% rise in house prices, with the average UK house costing £226,000 (July 2017) compared with £181,000 recorded at the housing peak in November 2007. The average house price is now 7.6 times the average salary – it was about half that 20 years ago. All across the country plans are being put in place to address the housing crisis, however the amount of 'affordable' housing is still a concern. Housing developers are required by the council to build between 30 and 50 per cent affordable housing in every development. However, there are legal loop holes, such as the 'viability assessment' which give a get out if the predicted profit of the development falls below what has been estimated. Concerns have been raised by local communities and organisations such as Shelter, as to whether housing developers are ducking out of their responsibilities for greater profits. Sadiq Khan is hoping to go some way to address these concerns (in London) by freeing up more affordable land for development, however his plans have not been without criticism and Andrew Boff, Conservative member of the London Assembly has described Khan's pledges as "at best vague idealism". Read more: London mayor tackles city's affordable housing crisis with purchase plan (Reuters, Sept 2017) Browse all planning jobs
-
Beach Clean Cigarette Butts Recycled into Picnic Benches
We had a great time at the Great Beach Clean this weekend, organised by the Marine Conservation Society. There were 50+ volunteers on Boscombe beach in Dorset and we scoured an already seemingly clean beach for cigarette butts, small pieces of plastic, food wrappers and anything else that wasn't part of the natural flora and fauna. Just in our small team of 6 we must have found over 500 cigarette butts, so there must have been 1,000s found on the day. Remarkably, the butts can be recycled by a company called Terracycle into picnic tables! The technology is amazing watch this Terracycle video to find out more. 100% of adult sea birds now have plastic in their guts, which is a shocking global statistic. So anything that can be done to reduce the amount of plastic and rubbish on the beach and in the oceans has to be a plus. If you would like to do more, take the Plastic Bag pledge, to stop using single use plastic bags. It's not difficult to do, honest, I'm doing it! Find out more about how you can combat ocean plastic pollution.
-
Young Water Dragons Awards
The Young Water Dragons Awards is a Future Water Association initiative aimed at getting school children aged 11-14, thinking about the importance of water and the vital role played by water utilities. The awards are part of the 'Skills for the Future' iniative and was held as part of the four day Big Bang Fair early this year, which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) and the winners were Teeside High School. Organisations to have already backed the initiative include Amec Foster Wheeler, Artesia Consulting, blu-3, Clancy Docwra, Immerse, Inflowmatix, Murphy Group, MSC Associates, Onsite, RPS, Skanska, Water 2 Business and WRc. Paul Horton, CEO of the Future Water Association, said: “Water is so critical to our future that is underpins our economy and way of life. We don’t just need to attract the next generation of creative thinkers, we need to show them that the water sector is a vibrant and exciting place to work, more interesting than NASA.” The utility sector is facing a skills crisis as a result of ageing workforce and a declining skills base; by 2024, water companies will need to have replaced their entire workforce, said Horton. It is therefore essential to encourage young people to be excited by the water sector as a potential career. Find out more about the Future Water Association Browse all water jobs
-
Monster Fatberg in Whitechapel Sewer
It sounds like a horror movie and in some respects it is! This is the discovery by Thames Water of a huge build-up of fat, oil, wipes, nappies and other detritus that shouldn't be put down the sink/toilet, coagulating together and setting rock hard into a gigantic 'fatberg'! Weighing the equivalent of 11 double decker buses (around 130 tonnes), the fatberg is blocking a stretch of sewer in Whitechapel, which is twice the length of Wembley football pitch and has set as hard as concrete, making it incredibly difficult to remove. High powered jets are being used to break up the blockage and between 20 and 30 tonnes will be extracted every day until it is cleared. Thames Water will only have to close a few parking bays to gain access to the sewer, which is fortunate as often entire roads need to be shut. The sewers are checked regularly, but blockages can build quickly and frustratingly they are totally avoidable if people were more mindful about what they put down the drains. Thames Water spends around £1M every month clearing blockages, which are all caused by fat, wipes, nappies and sanitary products, and which is the equivalent to 3-4 blockages every hour. The moral of the story - be careful what you flush, because it could create a monster! Read more on this story Browse all water jobs
-
Celebrating The Best in Green Design
Listening to BBC Radio Four's Nick Robinson reporting from Facebook's nine acre rooftop park in Silicon Valley this morning, inspired us to celebrate the most stunning architecture to embrace the botanical world. Facebook’s Menlo Park, California headquarters features an impressive, 9-acre rooftop garden—a welcome reprieve for the social media giant's 2,800 employees. Featuring 90 percent native fauna, 350 evergreen, deciduous and flowering trees and a one-half mile long winding pathway. The garden is also home for migrant birds, teepees and art installations. Designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry, who is also known for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The gorgeous green roof of Nanyang Technical University in Singapore. This inspiring design tops the five-storey building of the School of Art, Design and Media. It's sweeping forms blends the landscape and structure, encorporing high-tech and nature into one symbiotic design. Nanyang Technological University received the Green Mark Platinum Award from the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) for adopting best practices in environmental sustainability in May, 2011. Architect: CPG Consultants Pte Ltd One Central Park in Sydney features one of the world's tallest vertical gardens, spanning over 1,000M2 with over 35 different species of plant. The building comprises two residential towers, positioned atop a five-storey Central shopping centre. The 100-metre-high sky garden is for the exclusive use of residents and includes a plunge pool, an outdoor kitchen and sculpted timber seating areas. Hydroponic irrigation systems, for one, make it possible to grow a soil-less vertical veil of vegetation in planters and on walls all the way up to the tower tops. The resulting green facades trap carbon dioxide, emit oxygen and provide energy-saving shade. Design team, Architect: Jean Nouvel and Botantist: Patrick Blanc Stefano Boeri's wonderful Bosco Verticale or vertical forest in Milan, consisting of two vertical residential towers in the centre of Milan and host to 800 trees! Not to mention, 4,500 shurbs and 15,000 plants the design is an inspiring feat in green engineering. The vegetal system of the Vertical Forest contributes to the construction of a microclimate, produces humidity, absorbs CO2 and dust particles and produces oxygen. Designer: Stefano Boeri, who has just released his plans for a vertical forest in China Finally the California Academy of Sciences greenroof for shear weirdness! It looks a bit Telly Tubbies but it houses a natural history museum, aquarium and planetarium and it's living roof is covered with 1,700,000 selected "autochthonous plants" planted in specially conceived biodegradable coconut-fibre containers. Photovoltaic cells are also provide more than 5% of the electricity required by the museum, making this a truly standout, sustainable design. Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Stantec Architecture
-
Over 700,000 Global Deaths from Occupational Cancer
According to new global research twice as many people die from work-related cancer than workplace accidents. An estimated 742,000 people die annually from cancer which is linked to the workplace according to new research carried out by the International Labour Organisation, ministries in Finland and Singapore, the Workplace Safety and Health Institute in Singapore, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, the International Commission on Occupational Health and the European Occupational Safety and Health Agency. This has been a comprehensive and global study and the results show a 100,000 increase on previously published figures, which put the number of deaths at 666,000. Carcinogens are present in paints and chemicals, in dust and asbestos, in fumes and emissions, and workers are still at risk throughout the global community. It is all the more shocking because it is preventable, through appropriate protective equipment and clothing (PPE), in conjunction with correct health and safety procedures. People should not be put at risk in the workplace and these findings underline the need for more focus on illness prevention. Graham Parker, president of IOSH, said: “The findings from this new research are truly shocking. It shows that 742,000 families are having to come to terms with the loss of a loved one through cancer caused by something they were exposed to at work. What makes it even more shocking is the fact that these deaths are preventable. By protecting workers from exposure to carcinogens, we can stop people from dying from this awful disease." IOSH have highlighted the issue of occupational cancer in the 'No Time to Lose' campaign to which more than 100 organisations have pledged since its launch in November 2014. But clearly more has to be done to protect workers in the future.
Get In Touch
Get In Touch