Greystone-2023-Salary-Guide_FINAL

B U I L D I N G S E R V I C E S & S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
S A L A R I E S , R A T E S &
T R E N D S
2 0 2 3

01
Contents
Building Services & Sustainability Salaries, Rates & Trends 2023
02 Executive Summary
03 Interview with Simon Wilson | Greystone Director & Founder
Permanent Recruitment
04 Permanent Salaries
07 EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Andrew Keen
Head of Digital Delivery at Ramboll
09
11
12
Salaries, Rates & Benefits Trends
Remote Working Trends
Workplace Trends
14 Digital Technology Trends
15
16
Women in Engineering Trends
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Sabrina Gill
Mechanical Section Manager at Norman Disney Young
18 Hiring Trends
20 Interview with Dan Esfandiari | Greystone Senior Associate
Sustainability & Building Physics
22 Sustainability & Building Physics Salaries
23 Sustainability Trends
24
26
27
29
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Elisabeth Montgomery
Building Design Sustainability Lead & Associate Director at Atkins
Contract & IR35 Trends
Interview with Phil Hodgson | Greystone Director & Founder
Contract Specialist
Contract Rates
31 Why become a Greystone Member?
MOST UNIQUE
RECRUITMENT MODEL
BEST EMPLOYEE
COMMUNICATIONS
SUSTAINABLE
RECRUITMENT
AGENCY
OF THE YEAR
BEST
CANDIDATE
CARE

02
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
Executive Summary
2023 Salaries, Rates & Trends Report
The battle for talent is at an all-time high
and shows no signs of slowing down.
Employers are facing intense competition
as they strive to attract and retain topperforming
professionals in an
environment where demand for skilled
workers far outpaces supply. Our latest
data reveals that 84% of businesses are
struggling to recruit, and this trend is
only expected to continue in the coming
year.
As the market continues to strengthen, employers
must recognise that the modern workforce is not
solely motivated by take-home pay and career
advancement. Today's workers also desire
alignment with the culture, values, and impact of
the employer they work for.
Our figures indicate that salaries and rates have
risen by 3-10% across different grade levels and
locations, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and
leaving only 24% of professionals without a pay
increase in the past year. High-performing
workers are in high demand, and counteroffers are
prevalent, making it increasingly important for
employers to differentiate themselves in order to
attract and retain top talent.
The traditional five-day-a-week, in-office culture is
no longer a viable option for many workers, with
72% expressing a desire to work in a hybrid
environment. Employers that prioritise flexibility,
as well as values alignment, will have a
competitive edge in the talent market. Additionally,
our survey data shows that 54% of professionals
now view the overall package offered by an
employer as more important than a higher salary -
an 8% increase from the previous year.
In order to retain top-performing professionals,
employers must invest in training and development
opportunities to ensure that their employees are
equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to
progress in their careers. Failure to do so may
result in a loss of talent to competitors or even a
brain drain from the sector as a whole.
As we look ahead to 2023, it is clear that certain
industries, such as sustainability, data centre,
healthcare, and Science, will continue to
experience high demand for skilled workers.
Additionally, 92% of employers anticipate an
increase or sustenance of workload in the next six
months.
Given the ongoing skills shortage, it is crucial that
we take collective action to make the sector as
appealing as possible to a diverse range of
professionals, including younger generations,
women, and those from underrepresented
backgrounds. Only by doing so can we address the
talent gap and ensure that businesses have the
resources they need to succeed in the coming year.
Every year we do the hard work and horizonscanning
to give you the key insights you need to
make the most of your workforce and to
strengthen your business for any challenge. This
year is no exception with leading industry voices
and in-depth data delivered straight to your inbox.
Please enjoy our 2023 Salary Guide and thank you
to our contributors.

03
P E R M A N E N T
Simon Wilson
DIRECTOR & FOUNDER
In times when high-quality engineers might have
five to ten genuine offers on the table, it’s never
been more important to stand out from the crowd.
A one-size-fits-all approach to recruitment and
retention simply doesn’t work in this day and age.
Employers need to recognise that everybody is
different and, especially since the pandemic,
people have realised what’s important to them.
Often, that means working for a business with
shared values.
In 2023, people-focused cultures that are
genuinely flexible and able to adapt to employees
on an individual basis is what will separate
businesses from winning the talent race and those
that won’t. I know it’s hard to incorporate
flexibility into HR policies, especially in larger
firms, but by going the extra mile to invest in an
existing workforce will play better in the P&L at
the end of the year.
The role of the engineer continues to develop and expand. Our
clients recognise the opportunities well designed buildings provide
in delivering not only energy efficiency and its impact on reducing
the carbon footprint, but also the broader benefits of improved staff
retention and well-being, creating inspiring and comfortable places
to work whilst retaining an ability to be adaptable and flexible.
All these challenges provide engineers with a unique opportunity to
lead change in the industry, recognising ‘one size’ doesn’t fit all.
IAN RAVENHALL | PARTNER
RIDGE & PARTNERS LLP
If a business loses a highly skilled member of the
team, they’re highly unlikely to be able to replace
them at the same level because of the skills
shortage that abounds. And even if they do, they’ll
end up paying more for the privilege. So why not
give them what competitors are going to give in the
first place to keep that member of staff? What’s
more, businesses will incur fairly hefty agency fees
to recruit. Financially, and from a time perspective,
it doesn’t make sense so don’t waste money by
having to react.
You see it a lot in the consumer sector businesses
offering new customers a better deal than the ones
A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH
TO RECRUITMENT AND
RETENTION SIMPLY DOESN'T
WORK
existing customers get. It doesn’t create brand
loyalty. And it’s the same with an employer. Don’t
be the next Sky TV…
If an existing workforce feels valued, they’ll show
it. By listening to concerns, acting to make things
better and being flexible to keep them happy,
employers will reap the benefits from a loyal,
engaged and impactful workforce delivering time
and time again.
It’s the survival of the fittest. Good employers and
workers understand their world and take action to
make improvements. Those who don’t, become
obsolete. Becoming an employer of choice will
cement businesses as a serious threat in the
market.
And to those employers who think they can get
away with paying less, think again. Engineers are
an expensive commodity. Most require salaries at
the top of the banding. Rip the band-aid off and get
used to it. Put simply, if employers are losing their
workforce in a skills-short market because of pay,
they’re fools.
The doom and gloom pasted across our TV screens
from the very real cost of living crisis, inflation and
cost of materials has been at odds with how the
engineering sector is performing. Confidence in
the sector is good. Projects are still being
tendered for, bid on, won and delivered by our
clients and members.
Demand throughout 2022 was consistent and
relentless with the majority of employers hiring
across the board, at all levels, in all disciplines and
right across the country. I expect 2023 to be just as
busy.
We are looking forward with real optimism for the coming period.
Challenges need to be balanced with the unique opportunity and
responsibility given to us as engineers.
The time for us to step up and lead the sector is now, and it's what
our clients expect. The opportunity for talented engineers who can
genuinely lead has never been more significant.
MATT JONES | BOARD DIRECTOR
HOARE LEA

04
P E R M A N E N T A N N U A L S A L A R I E S
Leadership
London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Director
£90,000 -
£170,000
£78,000 -
£115,000
£78,000 -
£109,000
£80,000 -
£104,000
£70,000 -
£90,000
£76,000 -
£95,000
£68,000 -
£85,000
£72,000 -
£90,000
% change from 2022 +9.5% +7% +6.5% +8% +4.5% +4.5% +4.5% +3%
Associate/
Technical Director
£77,000 -
£100,000
£67,000 -
£90,000
£63,000 -
£85,000
£77,000 -
£86,500
£60,000-
£76,000
£64,000 -
£82,000
£60,000 -
£73,000
£60,000 -
£74,000
% change from 2022 +6% +16% +6.5% +5% +6% +6% +1.5% +7%
Mechanical London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£67,500 -
£90,000
£64,000 -
£79,000
£60,000 -
£73,000
£61,000 -
£75,000
£51,000 -
£63,000
£57,000 -
£76,000
£56,000 -
£65,000
£49,000 -
£65,000
% change from 2022 +3.5% +3.5% +4% +8% +2.5% +2.5% +10% +6%
Principal
£62,000 -
£77,000
£54,000 -
£70,500
£50,000 -
£66,000
£54,000 -
£68,000
£47,000 -
£60,000
£50,000 -
£62,000
£44,000 -
£58,000
£46,500 -
£57,500
% change from 2022 +3% +6% +2% +4.5% +2.5% +5.5% +4.5% +4.5%
Senior
£50,000 -
£70,000
£49,000 -
£65,000
£39,000 -
£60,000
£45,000 -
£62,000
£40,000 -
£56,000
£43,000 -
£61,000
£37,000 -
£54,000
£35,000 -
£54,500
% change from 2022 +5% +10.5% +4% +6.5% +7.5% +4% +9% +4.5%
Intermediate
£36,000 -
£50,000
£34,000 -
£47,000
£27,500 -
£46,000
£31,000 -
£46,000
£28,000 -
£39,000
£29,500 -
£43,500
£26,000 -
£44,000
£30,000 -
£46,000
% change from 2022 +6.5% +7% +8.5% +9% +3.5% +3% +5% +7%
Graduate
£27,500 -
£38,000
£26,000 -
£35,000
£25,000 -
£32,000
£25,000 -
£33,000
£22,500 -
£30,500
£25,000 -
£33,000
£22,000 -
£30,000
£19,500 -
£32,000
% change from 2022 +6% +8% +7% +14% +4.5% +7.5% +7.5% +3%
Electrical London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£66,000 -
£91,000
£63,000 -
£80,000
£58,000 -
£73,000
£58,000 -
£75,000
£51,000 -
£64,000
£58,000 -
£77,000
£55,000 -
£60,000
£45,000 -
£60,000
% change from 2022 +4.5% +4.5% +3% +6% +4.5% +4% +4.5% +5%
Principal
£63,000 -
£78,500
£53,000 -
£70,000
£51,500 -
£67,000
£53,000 -
£69,000
£48,500 -
£61,000
£50,000 -
£62,000
£42,500 -
£55,000
£46,000 -
£56,000
% change from 2022 +5% +4.5% +7% +4.5% +5% +5.5% 0% +3.5%
Senior
£49,000 -
£68,000
£43,000 -
£62,500
£39,000 -
£60,000
£43,000 -
£63,000
£37,000 -
£56,000
£42,000 -
£58,000
£37,000 -
£50,000
£35,000 -
£54,000
% change from 2022 +4.5% +8% +5% +7.5% +6% +5% +6% +5%
Intermediate
£35,000 -
£50,000
£33,000 -
£47,500
£28,000 -
£45,000
£30,000 -
£46,000
£28,500 -
£40,000
£28,000 -
£45,000
£26,000 -
£40,000
£30,000 -
£45,000
% change from 2022 +5% +6% +8.5% +7% +5.5% +5% +0% +6%
Graduate
£28,000 -
£37,000
£26,000 -
£35,000
£26,000 -
£35,000
£22,000 -
£33,000
£22,000 -
£32,000
£25,000 -
£34,000
£23,000 -
£29,000
£20,000 -
£33,000
% change from 2022 +5.5% +8% +0% +10% +6% +9.5% +8.5% +4%

05
P E R M A N E N T A N N U A L S A L A R I E S
Public Health London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£70,000 -
£93,000
£68,000 -
£86,000
£52,000 -
£67,000
£57,000 -
£70,000
£57,000 -
£62,000
£55,000 -
£73,000
£52,000 -
£60,000
£53,000 -
£62,000
% change from 2022 +9% +3% +3% +2.5% +3.5% +4% +2% +5%
Principal
£57,000 -
£78,000
£57,000 -
£70,000
£48,000 -
£60,000
£48,000 -
£62,000
£47,000 -
£56,000
£52,000 -
£62,000
£45,000 -
£55,000
£45,000 -
£58,000
% change from 2022 +4% +4% +5% +7% +3% +7% +3% +1.5%
Senior
£48,000 -
£68,000
£38,000 -
£62,500
£38,000 -
£50,000
£40,000 -
£52,000
£38,000 -
£50,000
£41,500 -
£57,500
£36,500 -
£52,500
£35,000 -
£52,000
% change from 2022 +1% +9.5% +3% +4.5% +7.5% +4.5% +3.5% +4%
Intermediate
£36,000 -
£52,000
£31,000 -
£40,000
£30,000 -
£40,000
£32,000 -
£42,000
£28,000 -
£38,000
£30,000 -
£45,000
£26,000 -
£37,000
£28,000 -
£36,000
% change from 2022 +5.5% +12.5% +4% +6% +8.5% +2% +3% +5%
Graduate
£28,000 -
£37,000
£24,000 -
£30,000
£25,000 -
£30,000
£24,000 -
£31,000
£23,000 -
£28,000
£24,000 -
£34,000
£22,500 -
£28,000
£23,500 -
£30,000
% change from 2022 +5.5% +8% +6% +6% +13.5% +7.5% +8.5% +14%

06
P E R M A N E N T A N N U A L S A L A R I E S
Salary Trends
Permanent Salaries
Reviewing the country as a whole, our map shows
the year-on-year average percentage increase
across all disciplines (including sustainability &
building physics); highlighting the areas with the
most growth, and those with the least.
Overall, the majority of England is rising at a
similar rate, yet at no greater speed than 2021.
Scotland demonstrates the lowest overall rate
increases over the course of 2022 but also a lower
rise than was experienced in 2021.
Average Salary Change
4%
5%
6%
SCOTLAND
+4%
1%
YOY
NORTH EAST
+5%
NO
CHANGE
NORTH WEST
+5%
WALES
+4%
NO
CHANGE
1%
YOY
MIDLANDS
+6%
SOUTH EAST
+6%
LONDON
1%
YOY
NO
CHANGE
SOUTH WEST
+5%
NO
CHANGE
+5% NO
CHANGE

EXCLUSIVE
Andrew Keen
HEAD OF DIGITAL DELIVERY AT RAMBOLL
Recently we had the pleasure of catching up with
Andrew Keen, Head of Digital Delivery for Ramboll
Building Services in the UK where he shared his
insights into the continuum of the Digital
Engineering discipline.
Andrew’s passion for digital innovation started in
1981 when his parents bought him a ZX81
computer and since then he has followed the
digital evolution. Andy is driven by the fact that he
sees daily how transformative digital innovation
can be, and with a career spanning over 30 years,
Andy has amassed highly valuable experience
through driving digitisation and transformation on
some impressive projects.
IT GIVES “SPACE” TO COLLEAGUES,
TO NOT ONLY FOCUS ON WHAT
THEY DO BEST, BUT TO THEN
THINK CREATIVELY THEMSELVES,
WHICH LEADS TO MORE
INNOVATION.
The journey so far
Innovation is ultimately driven by talent and having
the right people in place
For me, my journey with digital engineering began
in the late 80s and for several years it was slow
and hard to change people’s opinions and
practices. Hardware and software were miles away
from where it is now, sometimes slower than using
more traditional methods.
It has been an evolution and we have all evolved
with the technology to a point where it has become
part of our everyday lives. Its inclusion in our work
is now accepted and expected. I now find myself in
situations where I am not asking colleagues to
embrace digitisation, but to stop using an
application that is obsolete from only five years
ago!
Digital innovation and transformation is apparent
in all disciplines within Ramboll. If we plotted it on
a graph, year on year you would see the trend is
up. I collaborate with several colleagues across
the disciplines, and they have all continued to
innovate their working practices. There has also
been a drive to align our practices so we can all
benefit from each other’s advances.
Ramboll treads a careful line of making steady
progress with digital innovation without
overwhelming our teams with the scale and pace
of change. As digital leaders, we need to bring
everyone on the journey with us.
I would say computational engineering has been
the game-changer for the industry where we use
algorithms and computational power to solve
engineering problems. A good example of this is
our Existing Asset Decarbonisation tool.
What tech does is facilitate good decision making,
like computational engineering. It takes the gruntwork
out of calculating the permutations, which
then frees the engineer to be creative and
innovative, so our roles will change, not become
obsolete.
The future of Digital Engineering
It is a continuum, constant evolution and
expanding exponentially!
From talking to peers and colleagues, a lot is
being discussed. A few headlines for me would be:
1. AI becoming more prominent in our decisionmaking
process, with computational engineering
being one step in that direction.
2. VR so clients can have more of a hand in the
design process.
3. And a big one we have been discussing is the
concept of a single analytical model, where it is not
geometry in this model, but a mathematical
interpretation
One of the biggest challenges I face daily is caused
by digital technology itself! We can now embed
masses of data into the elements in our models,

08
A N D R E W K E E N
but just because we can, it doesn’t mean we
should. The growth of our models is leading to the
need to upgrade hardware and infrastructure
accompanied with an increasing CO2 footprint.
There needs to be a wider industry understanding
of the value of the data and if it is applicable to a
project.
WE NEED TO LOOK AT HOW WE
RETAIN TALENT AND CONTINUE
TO ENGAGE THOSE WORKING IN
THE INDUSTRY
Looking ahead – Advice to others
The only way to make the digital space more
appealing is by proving it works and makes the
user’s life easier.
Understanding how your colleagues work
currently and where their pain points are is
fundamental. What affects the team day in, day
out? How does this impact them? Once you have
collated and ordered their challenges by
frequency/impact, tackle the easiest of the top five.
Not only will this will build confidence, but it shows
that you are acting and listening to them. The most
important part of this is getting everyone involved
and invested so you are all on the journey together.
In a skills short market, what can be done to
encourage people into the industry and incentivise
them to train in these lacking disciplines?
There's no doubt that we need to grow the
available talent pool and in order to do that, we
need to make the industry more attractive,
especially to those who have not been well
represented previously.
One of the rewarding ways of doing this is through
outreach programmes that encourage young
people to discover an interest in STEM subjects
and our industry. Ramboll’s STEM ambassadors
regularly visit schools or host visits to our offices
to share their experiences and inspire young
people through fun and interactive activities.
As an industry, we should also make sure we are
investing in earn and learn opportunities for people
to learn, develop and consolidate their knowledge
and skills while working. With the cost of university
making degrees less affordable, apprenticeships
can be a great way of attracting talent. As a gold
member of the 5% Club, more than 5% of
Ramboll’s workforce is on a structured earn and
learn programme.
But we also need to look at how we retain talent
and continue to engage those working in the
industry. Making sure we've got inclusive policies
and practices, like flexible working so that people
don’t feel like they have to sacrifice their career
ambitions when their circumstances change.
Ramboll also has a return to work programme to
support people back into a rewarding career after
taking a break – recognising that their expertise
remain incredibly valuable, and that the experience
of having taken a career break can bring with it a
unique perspective that will benefit their work.
The key to making an impact and staying relevant
and desirable in the digital era of building services
design engineering, I think, comes back to the
philosophy that has been the bedrock throughout
my career – ‘Embrace Change’. Engage with your
senior colleagues and benefit from their
experience, whilst at the same time involving them
in your ideas / innovations. Or if you’re an
experienced engineer, engage with your junior
colleagues, share your experience, listen to their
observations and exchange ideas with them. Input
into any digitalisation / innovation that is occurring,
become part of the process. And lastly, learn to
code! Grasshopper and Rhino inside are great
places to start.
The industry is facing some significant challenges
– not least the geopolitical situation, green energy
transition, net-zero carbon, biodiversity loss, etc.
However, innovation thrives on challenge; we're
problem solvers at heart and I think the next year
or so will see some interesting developments and
ideas emerge.
Design is automating rapidly and moving away from the repetitious
tasks of the past. Design requires holistic thinking, data
collection/analysis, predictive simulations and a more influential
role in build design and operation.
Through leadership and training we will continue on our journey to
evolve the way we operate and be fundamental to our clients
decision process.
I would advise (urge) any Building Services Engineers, who want to
maximise their careers, to ensure they continually upskill digitally,
to design, interact and communicate effectively.
MATT HANN | UK DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR BUILDING SERVICES
RAMBOLL

09
S A L A R Y & R A T E T R E N D S
Salaries, Rates & Benefits
How are engineers feeling about pay in 2023?
24%
haven't had a pay rise in the
last 12 months
75%
believe they could get a
higher salary by changing
employer
36%
feel their salary is not
competitive with the
wider market
feel they are working at a higher
level without receiving the
50% correct title or remuneration
say their achievements, such as
chartership or project wins, are
35% not recognised in a timely manner

10
S A L A R Y & R A T E T R E N D S
Salaries, Rates & Benefits
Are benefits more important than salary?
FLEXIBLE WORKING IS
the
most
valued
benefit
OF 2023
Flexible Working
Pension
Private Healthcare
Company Car
Professional Accreditations
Purchase Holiday
Car Allowance
Private Dental
Cycle to Work
% of respondents
0 20 40 60 80
WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT?
Balanced benefits package and
54% salary
(an increase of 8% YoY)
46%
Higher basic salary
60% of respondents are either
chartered or chartership in
progress. 3/4 of them say
professional accreditations is
a top benefit.
The best way to determine
what is important to your staff
is to ask them.

11
R E M O T E W O R K I N G
Remote Working
The lasting impacts of the pandemic
89%
Would not accept a lower
salary for more
opportunity to work
remotely
HYBRID
is the preferred approach to work for
72% of industry professionals
(an increase of 3% YoY)
spend 3 days or less in the office
56% per week
94%
of employers have a positive
attitude to remote working
25% 19%
of professionals don't feel
they can achieve progression
working remotely
feel they don't receive the
required support,
development or mentorship
when working remotely
Passion in what you do, and aligning this with what our
clients need, is becoming a key combination to staff
engagement. The most successful talent are keen to
make a tangible impact.
Fulfilling your potential, whilst coordinating effectively
with your team in a fully-flexi place/time/environment is
hard work! It requires adaptability, openness and a
willingness to grasp the opportunity to maximise the
tools at your disposal.
79%
believe the long-term effects
of working from home are
positive for the industry
RAGZ PADAYACHI | UK REGIONAL DIRECTOR
NDY

12
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
In The Workplace
How valuable is feeling valued?
The COVID-19 pandemic, paired with the growing skills
shortage, has flipped recruitment in the building
services and sustainability industry on its head; putting
candidates very much in the driving seat.
Whilst pay is a leading factor in a role change, it is no
longer the core factor in a professional's decision to
stay, leave or join a workforce. Instead, culture plays a
huge influence; from overall company values (such as
ED&I) to how a businesses employees are looked after.
In order for employers to attract and retain the best
quality talent, they need to evolve and adapt
accordingly.
THE TOP 5 REASONS YOUR PEOPLE WILL
LEAVE (EXCLUDING PAY):
1
2
3
4
5
CAREER GROWTH
FEELING OVER-WORKED
FEELING UNDER-VALUED
BEING UNDER-RESOURCED
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
73%
of professionals feel either
overworked or at capacity
32%
are planning on moving
employer within the next 12
months
29%
of building services
professionals would consider
leaving the industry*
13%
of professionals don't
feel comfortable
raising issues with
their managers
32%
rate their work-life
balance below a 7
(on a scale of 1-10)

13
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
In The Workplace
Sectors
Science & Research
Data Centre
48%
Commercial
Healthcare
Defence
Residential
Aviation
Industrial
would move jobs to gain
access to another sector
Education
Heritage
Hospitality
Leisure
SCIENCE & RESEARCH IS
the
most
desirable
sector
OF 2023
according to the 48% of
professionals that would
move jobs to gain access to
another sector
Retail
Local Authority
30 20 10 0 % of respondents
WHAT ARE THE BUSIEST SECTORS?
% of respondents
60
40
20
0
Aviation
Commercial
Data Centre
Defence
Education
Healthcare
Heritage
Hospitality
Industrial
Leisure
Local Authority
Residential
Retail
Science & Research

14
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
In The Workplace
Digital Technology
Technology is capable of improving the industry.
Consider the fact that 56% of building services and
sustainability professionals now spend three days
or less in the office. Without technology, this would
be absolutely impossible; but by embracing virtual
tools, the industry has the ability to connect and
communicate with teams, clients and
stakeholders, anywhere in the world.
43%
feel their employer does
not invest enough in their
training to keep their
digital skills current
Emerging technologies will continue to reshape
the industry. For example, innovations in
augmented and virtual reality, radar and drones
are fast becoming mainstays in construction
projects. When applied correctly, investment in
these new technologies can transform traditional
processes.
Investment in construction technologies and
connectivity will continue to facilitate improved
collaboration, innovation and allow the sector to
advance with much improved efficiency and
execution. To help achieve this, construction
leaders must act to keep up the momentum.
28%
believe that their
company, on the whole,
is not doing enough from
a digital perspective
92%
believe the emergence of
Revit and other digital
tools is a positive for the
industry
The building services engineering industry is thriving and it's never
been a more exciting time to be a part of.
ESG, ED&I, the digital revolution and the emphasis on happiness
and flexibility at work are continuing to dictate change within the
industry, and it couldn't be more positive.
Creating opportunities for staff and the next generation is an
industry-wide responsibility. The ambition and innovation in our
industry is outstanding and we will continue to encourage younger
generations to consider becoming a Building Services Engineer.
The future holds exciting things.
PHIL BAKER | PARTNER
RIDGE & PARTNERS LLP

15
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
In The Workplace
Women In Engineering
41%
say women are least
represented at
leadership level
18%
say women are not well
represented at any level
According to WICE, women represent only 11% of
the construction workforce in the UK, and most of
these jobs are office based - only 2% work in
manual jobs. When it comes to women in
engineering, only 9% of UK engineering
professionals are women.
The UK also has the lowest proportion of female
engineers in Europe, making up only 14% of
entrants to engineering and technology first
degree courses and a much smaller 3.4% of all
engineering apprentices.
The question remains: Why!?
When other areas of Europe are far closer to a
50/50 split, why are the UK's construction and
engineering industries so drastically male
dominated?
26%
feel their company is not
doing enough to promote,
retain and hire women
35%
say their business
does not do enough to
encourage women to
return to the industry,
should they leave it
We often look to the education sector when
considering how to encourage more women in to
the industry, but perhaps it's time to start
considering how women are represented at
leadership levels within the industry.
Giving younger females better industry rolemodels
will alter the mind-set that the industry is
only for men. Seeing successful women at the top
will give them the drive to 'be like her' and this will
undoubtedly improve the level of female entrants
in to the industry.
Only 18% of our survey
18% respondents were women

EXCLUSIVE
Sabrina Gill
MECHANICAL SECTION MANAGER AT NORMAN DISNEY YOUNG
16
We recently caught up with Sabrina Gill, a
Mechanical Section Manager at Norman Disney
Young, who shared her refreshing and thoughtprovoking
opinions on the topic of gender disparity
seen within the building services industry, as well
as discussing her own experiences, from building
her career so far as a female engineer.
With over 9-years of industry experience, starting
at Hoare Lea in 2013 to more recently establishing
herself in a new role at NDY, Sabrina has made her
mark on the industry as a STEM ambassador,
CIBSE award winner, as well as a champion for
female leads and a promoter of diversity within the
workplace. Her passion for these areas is clear
and she intends to grow her network and platform
to continue to inspire the next generation of
engineers in the hopes of promoting and attracting
more women to enter the building services
industry.
The journey so far
I entered the industry nine years ago, and I am still
often asked ‘how do you find working in a maledominated
industry?’ It’s always a jarring question,
as I don’t think you pause for thought on it, until
it’s made a point of, or until your in a room and
notice you are the only female there.
From the outside looking in, I appreciate that it can
seem daunting, but once you’re in the thick of it,
your colleagues are your colleagues, regardless of
gender. It’s only when you begin to dig into the
statistics and specifically discuss gender disparity
in the industry that I really notice or feel impacted
by it. There have been instances where I have been
spoken over or my advice disregarded until
supported by male colleagues, but this is definitely
a rarity now, which may also be due to my gained
experience and stature.
THE AVAILABLE SUPPORT FOR
FEMALE ENGINEERS VARIES ON
A REGIONAL BASIS
congratulations there were the poorly landing
jokes such as ‘of course the most diverse person
on stage got the award’.
In my early career, I had the benefit of having
strong female engineer role models. It is
important to have women in leadership roles who
continue to inspire the next generation and it is
exciting to see the current shift in the industry with
more women being recognised into senior roles. It
wasn’t until my recent move that I truly
appreciated the significance this, having junior
engineers comment that they were excited at the
prospect of a female Project Leader. I was taken
aback having others look up to me. There had been
a shift in my status, now too becoming a role
model to others.
I have benefitted through participation of women
focused development groups, such as the WDP at
Hoare Lea, where the idea isn’t that women need
to be developed or levelled up, but gives a safe and
comfortable environment for those across the
company to share experiences and provide
support, advice and challenge one another without
judgement. Schemes such as these are a great
opportunity to build a network and helped me grow
that sense of belonging, gaining personal
confidence and self-reflection.
My passion for promoting diversity is driven by the
fact that I tick a few diversity boxes; young-‘ish’,
female and Indian. When you come from a diverse
background, going into an industry with a gender
imbalance, you have already learnt to shrug off
microaggressions as a part of life; so gender just
plays into another part of that. Not unlike a lot of
similarly shared stories amongst colleagues, as I
started my career and began attending industry
events, there were a lot of questions such as, ‘so
what do you do’ followed by the ‘oh I wasn’t
expecting that’. I can also recall after receiving an
award at a CIBSE event, amongst the
The current landscape
I’ve found that diversity varies on a regional basis.
During my short time in London, I have already
seen more female candidates for graduate roles
than I did in any 2 year period in Birmingham. And
through my years of visiting other locations, I am
aware of the differences that can occur region to
region due to demographic mixes.
Encouragingly, I do think companies are actively
doing more to support and nurture female talent.
This isn’t an overnight fix and, sadly, I don’t think

17
S A B R I N A G I L L
we will ever see parity with there being a
disproportionate number of female engineers
entering the industry and the historic gender bias
and male dominated legacy issues. But we are
making progress. This is evident in the increased
number of promotions I’ve seen over the last
12months, of female engineers achieving Associate
Director and Director roles.
There are still examples of 'boys club' mentalities
around business development activities across the
industry, such as golfing or rugby, and this is still
akin to the majority demographic of the industry.
Events such as these, albeit maybe few and far
between, still can be perceived as a barrier to
engineers whose interests that don’t align, female
or otherwise, and the preconception which allude
them. Refreshingly, at NDY we are encouraged to
tailor business activities to our individual interests.
It is acknowledged that we will perform better
when we genuinely feel more comfortable in an
environment that we have chosen ourselves.
Collaboration is key
Diversity across all levels breeds inclusivity, which
means people are more comfortable to share ideas
and knowledge. We need more of this, and
inclusivity helps foster a healthy workplace
environment and a sense of belonging.
Businesses that provide employees with the
opportunity to build their own networks within their
niche or diversity group will perform best in the
market and continue to attract future employees. It
shows the value and integrity of a company and a
genuine focus on the people it employs. Network
communities such as women in engineering,
BAME, LGBTQ+, help create a space for employees
to network, communicate, implement business
initiatives, improve awareness, and build
relationships with like-minded people in the
workplace, which is so important for well-being.
Comparatively to the rest of the construction
industry, building services companies are relatively
low key and modest – I don’t think we talk about or
celebrate people within the industry enough. As an
industry we could be better at sharing success
stories on individuals.
The industry needs to build a stronger presence in
education and building awareness of the career
opportunities for younger generations, as opposed
to the majority ‘falling’ into building services.
The challenges to consider
My opinions and experiences are personal to me
and may not be a true reflection of others, but
looking at my career thus far, I personally feel that
I have had the same opportunities as my male
counterparts and, truthfully, I have not yet hit that
milestone where some of the prejudice begins to
creep in. That does not mean I have not witnessed
or acknowledged the struggles of others who have
been penalised due to returning to work after
maternity leave part time, working the extra hours
without reward, or viewed as inflexible due to
working hours and not having the ability or desire
to network outside of working hours.
Whilst not always primary, one key consideration
for women is their ability to start a family and the
impact this might take on their career; further
influenced by company policies on maternity pay
and leave. I believe maternity and paternity
packages should be widely advertised within
benefits packages. Post covid, workplaces quickly
adapted their benefits to include flexible working;
yet maternity leave, which has always been a
normal part of life for the majority of women, is not
openly discussed.
Enhanced maternity pay often comes with a
limitation on service length and a requirement to
stay or pay back funds, not dissimilar to that of a
further education grant. These limitations, whilst
they are in place to protect businesses, can lead to
negative impacts with employees getting locked
into companies to avoid losing out or not returning
to the industry altogether. There is a stigma of
‘alarm bells’ that come with asking for the specific
details, so most go in to a company blind. Being
open on maternity and paternity policies is
something we could do better as an industry if we
want to encourage more women into building
services and to promote an inclusive and equal
opportunity environment from the start.
I have had the benefit of meeting strong female
engineers who aren’t afraid to make their
presence and ambition known. As more women
progress, collectively, we aren’t afraid of being the
minority in the room; and together we know we
can make a change which is building foundations
for a viable career path for others who come after
us. As more women continue to progress, those
who make it to the top will normalise the ability to
have both a successful career and a family, if they
so choose, and will no longer be seen as the
exception.
Looking ahead & 2023 Predictions
To any woman considering a career in building
services engineering, as cliché as it may be, I
would say don’t judge a book by its cover. There is
a change in tide happening right now. There isn’t a
glass ceiling unless you put it there, and there is
every opportunity to go as far as you want to take
your career. There is now a legacy of women who
are well established in their careers, myself
included, so there is a good network of female
engineers who can support and enable you to build
a strong career too.
This is just the beginning. Over the next 12-24
months we will start to see a lot of change in
management structures across the industry.

18
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
Hiring
What challenges is the industry facing?
The building services industry has been fighting a
war on talent for some time now; and talent is
winning. With the increasing skills gap, businesses
are unable to hire quickly enough to meet
demanding workloads.
For candidates, this means increasing salaries and
the ability to negotiate better packages. But for
businesses that fail to adapt and find alternative
solutions to this crisis, it means over-worked and
unhappy teams, frustrated clients and higher
levels of stress.
84%
of respondents say their
business is struggling to hire
We believe contract resource is a key solution; and
the statistics would agree. If the 43% of businesses
that don't currently hire contract resource were to
begin doing so, the pressure of finding permanent,
skilled staff would be alleviated; clients would be
happier and teams wouldn't feel as
under-resourced.
43%
of respondents say their
business does not employ
contract resource
believe their project workload
with either increase, or stay the
92% same, in the next six months
31%
feel of respondents feel
under-resourced
Our interest is providing engineers and sustainability
professionals a positive, dynamic, purpose driven experience. It
is about continuous, lifelong learning and enquiry as each of us
builds both personal and shared knowledge and experience.
To continue improving the industry, the advice and the delivery of
our projects to our clients needs to be to a high standard;
working in a collaborative way with other professionals and
contractors to achieve this. In today's purpose driven world, we
see that this approach matters. It's what motivates and excites
us all. It offers all our people the opportunity to contribute
meaningfully, be successful and fulfilled.
DAVID LINDSEY | SENIOR PARTNER
MAX FORDHAM LLP

19
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
Hiring
Hardest roles and disciplines to hire
HARDEST ROLES TO FILL (BY SENIORITY)
Director
Associate Director
Associate
Principal
Senior
Intermediate
Graduate
30 20 10 0 % of respondents
HARDEST ROLES TO FILL (BY DISCIPLINE)
Acoustic
BIM
BMS
Building Physics
CAD
Electrical
Fire
ICT
Leadership
Lighting
Mechanical
Public Health
Security
Sustainability
Vertical Transport
% of respondents
0 20 40 60

20
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
Daniel Esfandiari
SENIOR ASSOCIATE | SUSTAINABILITY & BUILDING PHYSICS
I've seen more crossover into sustainability and
environmental design from other areas such as
architecture, structures, infrastructure. Things like
decarbonisation, embodied carbon materials have
become much more transferable now; and with the
skills gaps in the market, those transferable skills
and experiences have been used a lot more this
year.
IF SHARP INDIVIDUALS HAVE
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS AND KNOW
WHERE THEY WANT TO TAKE THEIR
CAREER, IT'S COMMON TO SIDE-
STEP INTO SUSTAINABILITY
In my opinion, the skills gap is the biggest
challenge across the board for all businesses. The
industry has suffered because of it. People that
have the experience and knowledge are going to
hit the ground running because there are a lot of
fresh workstreams coming to industry nowadays
and not enough people to fill the demand. For
example, operational energy, LCA and embodied
carbon type work. Yes, it's more embedded now,
but in these types of areas there isn’t always an
extensive number of skilled people available.
If sharp individuals have transferable skills and
know where they want to take their career, it's
common to side-step into sustainability from
structures, architecture and other disciplines. It's
a bit of a gift and a curse in some ways but it's
given a much bigger opportunity for people to
move into sustainability.
Why choose sustainability?
I wasn’t overly surprised by the finding that over
60% of respondents to our survey indicated that
they would be really interested in moving into the
sustainability discipline. It is becoming more
common that individuals with an engineering
background for example that of a mechanical
engineer, will have a natural transition into a
building physics role. They could bring a strong
MEP understanding and software experience in the
likes of IES and hit the ground running. I'm seeing
it a lot more, where people want to broaden what
they're doing and put more of a sustainability focus
on it.
In its most simple sense, have a conversation,
hopefully with me! That's what I always strive to do
- have as many conversations with people, in this
position deliberating entering the sustainability or
building physics discipline so I can give my
informed opinion, see how they feel and give them
the best, honest and helpful advice about achieving
the direction they want.
It’s really important to understand that there is no
one-size-fits-all approach to making a move like
this. Everything should be tailored specifically
around the individual in question – the outcome
and the strategy depends on the person, the
exposure and the skills that they already have, the
type of business that they're in and then
considering what they actually really want to do.
What they say they want to do then allows me to
assess and explain perhaps that there is a longer
path, they're going to have to do X to get to Y.
As a rule of thumb, I would always advise not to
look at job descriptions and base decisions on this
because you won’t get a true feel of what it takes
to move across full-time. I love seeing people
come into sustainability from building services
because building service engineers have such a
good MEP mindset. All these fantastic people that
come from building services know the core of how
the building works and then they can apply
sustainability and more of a niche discipline on top
of that. These are the conversations I get really
excited about having and I'd be really keen to have
more conversations with people on this.
We are seeing clients continue to work towards their net-zero carbon commitments with a strong focus on
retrofitting their existing buildings and portfolios. This is only likely to increase with the proposed launch of
the Net Zero Carbon Building Verification Standard in 2023, which will hopefully bring some much needed
consistence and transparency to the industry. Exciting times to come.
SIMON WYATT | PARTNER
SUSTAINABILITY & BUILDING PHYSICS | CUNDALL

21
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
The journey so far
Some two to three years ago, sustainability was
considered more a bolt-on addition to business and
MEP was the core. But, now, 82% of the building
services industry has integrated sustainability into
its operations which is great. There are two
separate arguments to why businesses should be
involved in it now as a no brainer – projects and
culture.
In recent years, an abundance of projects have
been won from a sustainability drive and then other
areas, such as MEP, have been upsold for the
overall offering to the client. From that standpoint,
you know the progress of it, and that's enough of
an argument to encourage businesses of all sizes
to offer sustainability services to their clients
alongside their core building services disciplines.
2022 has seen continued growth in demand for sustainability
specialists across the public and private sector. More and more
organisations are making pledges or are responding to legal and
reputational requirements to achieve net-zero. 2023 is going to
see more demand for people who know how to deliver on those
pledges and turn them in to reality. Employers who have an
unshakable purpose on why they do what they do are going to be
the most successful in attracting that talent.
DAVE WAKELIN | DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABILITY
GLEEDS
The other side of it involves culture and internal
perspective. I move a lot of people from business to
business and a lot of the time the reason is the
culture, the ethos, the focus within the business,
and where they're focusing on winning work and
directing the marketing external narrative. If it's
really sustainability focused, you'll make more
organic sustainability hires into the business, and
attract the best people in sustainability if you are
practising that methodology, mindset and ethos.
I speak to people all the time that are in the
industry because of passion, but they want to be in
a business that share that passion too. If they're in
a business that is just churning out compliance
work, there is a shelf life for a lot of design driven
people hence why they move on after a couple of
years to get what they want.
I was really surprised by the finding of 29% of
people are considering leaving the building
services industry. That’s a very high number given
what I've seen in the last year or two to three
years. The people that I've been speaking to
haven't wanted to completely leave the industry,
they want to have a different perspective and to
move into a different type of consultancy that either
focuses on different types of work or different RIBA
stages that they can get involved in. This is where
the recruitment industry needs to step up and have
the right conversations with people rather than
just selling jobs. Recruiters need to coach people
and ask the right questions. Things need qualifying
properly; otherwise we could lose people out of
industry unnecessarily.
Women in industry
Some 13 out of my last 20 placements have been
women at all levels - Graduate up to Director level
– and I can wholeheartedly say that some of the
best people I’ve worked with in the industry are
female.
I've seen an uplift in the number of women I've
worked with so hopefully that's a good sign more
women are coming into the industry. I think there's
been progress with women sitting in a position of
authority, but there is still is a way to go in the
market for this to be common. I hope that women
I've placed in high-level management positions
continue to break through and hit the top at
Partner or Director level if they wish. There needs
to be more of a balance right at the top like
Philippa Spence at Ramboll. I'm sure a lot of
women in the business see that as a really positive
step.
Skill, character, the quality and the aspiration of
the person should prevail no matter what gender. I
hope soon that this isn't a discussion we need to
have about women in construction. It should be a
conversation about quality above anything else.
But there’s a long way to go until this point.
Looking ahead to 2023
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
2022 was a great year as all sectors of industry picked up pace with
regard to net-zero carbon targets. This led to strong opportunities
and business performance. The economy will likely slow in 2023.
However, we are cautiously optimistic that operation energy
consumption and carbon emission reduction targets will continue to
drive strong business peformance.
MARK RICHARDSON | PARTNER
TROUP BYWATERS + ANDERS
The focus on retrofit and decarbonisation of
existing buildings and portfolios is on the rise and
will continue throughout 2023. Design is always
going to be there. It may slow a little bit over the
next year, but buildings are still very relevant and
won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Same
applies to existing stock and the net-zero carbon
commitments that need to be reached within good
time. If design slows down slightly, the retrofit
decarbonisation piece will still be pushed along.
I hope that focus won't be lost after so much
traction over the last couple of years. It will be a
shame for it to be pushed to the side too much as
well as the proposed 2023 part-launch of the netzero
carbon building verification standard. This will
give the industry much needed clarity and
consistency of the legislation and guidance about
how everyone should be working.

22
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y & B U I L D I N G P H Y S I C S
Sustainability
London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Leadership
sustainability London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Director
£78,000 -
£105,000
£75,000 -
£90,000
£72,000 -
£86,000
£73,000 -
£85,000
£68,000 -
£82,000
£70,000 -
£86,000
£68,000 -
£83,000
£69,000 -
£88,000
% change from 2022 +4.5% +3% +3% +6.5% +3% +4.5% +1% +5%
Associate/
Technical Director
£71,000 -
£95,000
£63,000 -
£80,000
£62,000 -
£76,000
£59,000 -
£77,000
£58,000 -
£71,000
£60,000 -
£75,000
£57,000 -
£71,000
£64,000 -
£73,000
% change from 2022 +3% +3% +3% +4.5% +3.5% +6.5% +5.5% +2%
Sustainability London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£55,000 -
£74,000
£49,000 -
£65,000
£47,000 -
£62,000
£52,000 -
£63,000
£48,000 -
£59,000
£49,000 -
£65,000
£48,000 -
£58,000
£49,000 -
£67,000
% change from 2022 +8% +4.5% +5.5% +4.5% +3% +10% +2% +2%
Principal
£47,000 -
£60,000
£43,000 -
£60,000
£45,000 -
£55,000
£45,000 -
£54,000
£39,000 -
£50,000
£45,000 -
£52,000
£43,000 -
£50,000
£44,000 -
£52,000
% change from 2022 +2.5% +7.5% +1.5% +3.5% +5.5% +2% +4% +2%
Senior
£38,000 -
£54,000
£37,000 -
£53,000
£37,000 -
£47,000
£38,000 -
£48,000
£35,000 -
£44,000
£39,000 -
£48,000
£35,000 -
£47,000
£36,000 -
£48,000
% change from 2022 +5.5% +2.5% +2.5% +4% +4% +2% +2% +2.5%
Consultant
£30,000 -
£44,000
£30,000 -
£43,000
£29,000 -
£41,000
£29,000 -
£42,000
£29,000 -
£39,000
£29,000 -
£42,000
£28,000 -
£37,000
£28,000 -
£42,000
% change from 2022 +10% +4.5% +8% +4% +4.5% +4% +3.5% +5%
Graduate
£24,000 -
£33,000
£23,000 -
£32,000
£22,000 -
£31,000
£22,000 -
£31,000
£21,000 -
£30,000
£22,000 -
£30,000
£21,000 -
£29,000
£22,000 -
£29,000
% change from 2022 +11.5% +8.5% +10.5% +10.5% +8.5% +11.5% +6% +11%
Building Physics London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£54,000 -
£72,000
£52,000 -
£66,000
£49,000 -
£62,000
£52,000 -
£64,000
£48,000 -
£59,000
£49,000 -
£64,000
£49,000 -
£58,000
£50,000 -
£66,000
% change from 2022 +4% +3% +6.5% +6% +3% +6% +5.5% +0%
Principal
£46,000 -
£61,000
£47,000 -
£60,000
£44,000 -
£55,000
£45,000 -
£54,000
£42,000 -
£49,000
£43,000 -
£51,000
£44,000 -
£50,000
£45,000 -
£53,000
% change from 2022 +2% +5.5% +6% +2% +2% +6% +3% +3.5%
Senior
£42,000 -
£55,000
£36,000 -
£51,000
£40,000 -
£49,000
£41,000 -
£50,000
£37,000 -
£47,000
£40,000 -
£48,000
£35,000 -
£47,000
£38,000 -
£47,000
% change from 2022 +3.5% +3.5% +3% +2% +2.5% +5% +3.5% +3%
Consultant
£30,000 -
£44,000
£30,000 -
£43,000
£30,000 -
£44,000
£29,000 -
£43,000
£28,000 -
£38,000
£30,000 -
£41,000
£27,000 -
£36,000
£29,000 -
£42,000
% change from 2022 +4% +11.5% +7% +6.5% +4% +12.5% +8.5% +3%
Graduate
£25,000 -
£32,000
£23,000 -
£31,000
£22,000 -
£31,000
£23,000 -
£30,000
£21,000 -
£28,000
£22,000 -
£29,000
£22,000 -
£29,000
£22,000 -
£30,000
% change from 2022 +14.5% +6.5% +6.5% +11% +9.5% +8.5% +10% +8.5%

23
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
In The Workplace
Sustainability
Buildings are still the UK’s second largest source
of climate emissions after surface transport. But
whilst the industry has demonstrated it's
willingness to take on the challenge of meeting
net-zero carbon goals, a recent scorecard
published by UKGBC demonstrates just how far
behind we are.
The report shows there is a huge gap in
government policy; and every year of delay drives
up the costs of reaching net-zero and misses
significant opportunities to grow our green
economy.
It is possible however, that the industries apparent
lack of development in terms of digital technology,
could be having an impact on sustainability targets.
38%
INTEGRATED
SUSTAINABILITY HAS
INCREASED
6%
IN THE LAST YEAR
say they are not receiving the
required training to suit the
UK's net-zero carbon
commitments
26%
feel their company is not
doing enough to address
sustainability issues
(an increase of 1% YoY)
62%
would be interested in an
opportunity to transition
in to sustainability
Take, for example, Internet of Things (IoT). IoT can
collect specific information about materials,
equipment, or building parts and provide live data
related to sustainability that can be harnessed with
AI and modelling to evaluate, visualise, compare,
make decisions, and/or predict scenarios.
It's not all about technology though. One of the
biggest sustainability concerns in the construction
industry is the rise of new developments. Smart
retrofitting existing buildings is one of the most
important contributors in the built environment to
combat this.
The biggest concern is that many industry
professionals don't have faith that their company is
doing enough to combat sustainability; with many
more claiming they are not receiving the training
that will enable them and, in turn, the industry to
realistically meet net-zero goals.

EXCLUSIVE
Elisabeth Montgomerie
24
BUILDING DESIGN SUSTAINABILITY LEAD & ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AT ATKINS
Elisabeth Montgomerie, Sustainability Lead for
Atkins UK Building Design, shares an honest and
educational insight into the journey of the
sustainability discipline within the built
environment. Her passion to educate and inspire
the next generation to take an active role in
integrating sustainability into the forefront of the
building design process is admirable. Her goal is to
help drive achieving 2030 climate goals and
ultimately look to improve the world that we live in
through the built environment; securing the future
of the building services industry.
After a career spanning almost 25 years’
experience working across the UK and Norway in
the environment and sustainability landscapes, we
were excited to hear what the sustainability
discipline within building services looks like from
the perspective of a highly reputable Sustainability
Lead, discussing the challenges, relevance of, and
predictions for the sustainability discipline in 2022-
2023.
A year in review
There’s obviously been a lot more focus on
sustainability, and we are a lot more involved.
There’s more of a perceived value too - people
realise that it’s quite literally burning under their
feet and we have to act now. We, as sustainability
professionals, don’t have to fight to get involved in
the design processes now like we used to. People
are coming to us and realising that we have the
skills that they need which is really encouraging.
Earlier involvement is the real change that I’ve
particularly noticed.
SUSTAINABILITY
PROFESSIONALS DON'T HAVE
TO FIGHT TO GET INVOLVED
LIKE WE USED TO
People’s attitude towards integrating sustainability
into processes has changed. There’s always been
an understanding of compliance with legislative
requirements, but practitioners, in general, and
clients especially, want to be more involved.
Sustainable design is more widely considered a
perceived benefit from both environmental
sustainability and health and well-being
standpoints. If you have a building that people
thrive in and really enjoy working in, they are going
to be more productive, less sick, and you generally
get a lot more out of your workers, so you save
money. It’s a significant return on investment too
which is always well received.
I’ve been working for almost 25 years and back
then it was very much a question of how can we do
the minimum to comply with legislation and
regulations. We were seen as a nuisance that
increased budget costs and lacked perceived
benefits for the stakeholders, but over the last ten
years there's been a trend towards higher
sustainability ambition because clients want it and
tenants want it. We've got more of a seat at the
table than ever before.
There are still some projects that believe they
don't have the time or money to have higher
sustainability ambitions, but that's no longer the
norm. More projects are understanding that it has
added value and the earlier we get involved, the
more impact we can make at no added cost.
Atkins
Since I started at Atkins in April 2022, we have
developed a wide network of sustainability
Ambassadors within the Architects, Structural
Engineers and the Building Services Engineers. We
are working to integrate sustainability principles
right from the very start across all the disciplines
so it’s not just a plaster that you slap on at the end.
I have just completed the UK Green Building
Council Change Accelerator Programme which is
designed to question how you change your
company’s purpose and value with regards to
sustainability, and implement the change
throughout the organisation. It’s an extremely
relevant matter that is needed across the industry.
Adapting the practice's mindset is the biggest
challenge of all. I think the industry needs to
collaborate more instead of all of us sitting on our
own little mole hills trying to solve the same
problem.

25
E L I S A B E T H M O N T G O M E R I E
How has the skills gap of the Sustainability and
Building Physics disciplines changed over the last
year?
The awareness of the skills gap has grown. I don’t
think it was there to the right degree previously.
The other challenge with the obvious skills
shortage I think involves bridging the gap across
other teams within business such as architects.
They are usually the ones that are first involved in
and have the power to choose who they involve at
the very early stages, so the more they know the
smoother the whole process will run. There’s a
real need to up-skill the other teams and train
them to think more inclusively about sustainability
and Building Physics at the very front end of design
Why work in sustainability?
There are so many practitioners who are really
keen to join and get involved with sustainability,
with both a personal and professional interest.
The greater general awareness of sustainability
and realisation that what you can do even as a
young engineer, makes an impact on improving our
planet for future generations. There’s a definite
sense of fulfilment with this discipline. An added
attraction more recently is the increase in salaries
which has attracted a lot of people to sustainability.
There are a lot of university degrees now that
combine sustainability with things like Architecture
or even building services engineering so the
understanding and significance of sustainability is
showing up earlier in education. With the crossover
between disciplines continuing later in
business, people are almost unable to escape the
relevance of sustainability which I only see as a
positive.
For businesses that are looking to integrate
sustainability further into its operations, I’d say
that communication between the disciplines in
industry is key. If you don't have that in your
business, this should be prioritised along with
creating a focal platform for exchanging ideas,
technologies and knowledge.
Speaking to an engineer who wants to move into
the sustainability world, if you don't have any prior
knowledge of sustainability, you need to start with
the basic principles. Question if your employer has
some training courses or CPD presentations you
can use to gain some basic skills. The UK Green
Building Council is a good resource, they have a
course series covering everything from general
sustainability principles through circular economy
all the way to social value, health and well-being. If
there is a sustainability team or person within the
business, contact them and ask to get involved.
Gaining experience through
projects is the best way because there’s only so
much theory you can read; but you need to find a
way to actually execute the sustainable solutions
on a project.
2023 predictions
Not a single project can ignore sustainability.
sustainability engineers and consultants are
important now, but will become even more
important going forward, as we get closer to our
2030 and our 2050 targets. Having a dedicated
sustainability project lead is essential. Whether it's
a pure sustainability person, the lead Architect or
maybe a Building Services Engineer, someone on
the project needs to be responsible. You need to
have a sustainability strategy. You need to have
some targets and you need to measure your
progression through the design process against
those targets and someone needs to be
responsible for that, because it's not going to
happen by itself.
We're in a recession but I don't think it will have a
massive impact on what we're doing within
building design and sustainability work. I think the
drive will have to continue because the truth is we
don't have a choice. We can't just say that we're in
a recession now so we can't afford to think about
sustainability, because there’s not going to be a
planet for future generations unless we do
something. The UK and the West are in a much
stronger position to implement the required
change, so we need to lead the way for the rest of
the world.
The momentum that we we've gained over the last
year or two will continue and we will get more
momentum but not without up-skilling more
people. We need every single person within all the
disciplines to know about the sustainability
principles so that we can implement as early as
possible. It will cost a lot less in the long run.
A big difference between the UK market and
Norway, I noticed, is the availability of data and
significance of building materials considered. In
Scandinavia environmental product declarations
are a lot more developed. For pretty much every
building product that you consider for your project
you can see exactly what the embodied carbon is
and all the environmental aspects. It’s a lot further
ahead than the UK market and would really help
make better, more informed decisions with
regards to refurb and retrofit which I think is going
to grow more over the next 12 months. The current
BREEAM UK Retrofit and Refurbishment manual is
from 2014, which is too old. So much has
happened in those nine years, so I’d like to see
some progression with this to help us perform
even better but I don’t see it happening without a
Government steer.

26
I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
In The Workplace
Contract & IR35
Greystone have long been promoting the fact that
high-quality contract workers are the ones that
are keeping the industry afloat. Not only that, but
contractors are a perfect solution to current hiring
challenges.
However, the issues seems to be with the
businesses that have struggled to come to terms
with April 2021's IR35 reform. Even now, in 2023,
there are still question marks over whether or not
contractors are being determined correctly, and
many organisations are still too nervous to employ
contract resource at all.
12.5%
of contractors believe
they've been incorrectly
classified as outside IR35
43%
of contractors would
move contracts to find an
outside IR35 role
The remit of a building services Engineer has never been broader and the importance of our seat round
the design team table is growing. Long gone are the days of simply ‘pipes’ or ‘wires’ – we now work in an
industry where our brightest talent has to be conversive in everything from embodied carbon, through
net-zero to well-being and smart buildings. At the same time we’d like you all to be able to program
parametric design tools and be experts in BIM! This is a tough challenge! Our most progressive clients
however increasingly see the value in working with top quality engineering teams and are prepared to
pay accordingly. Exciting times for those with the right mindset.
RICHARD GUBBINS | DIRECTOR & HEAD OF MEP
RAMBOLL

27
C O N T R A C T
Phil Hodgson
DIRECTOR & FOUNDER
The contracting world is interesting right now.
Demand for good quality contractors is simply far
outweighing supply.
We’re in a skills shortage, the same as we are in
the permanent world. This skills gap has helped
push pay rates back to pre-pandemic levels and
are now going further, particularly in really
specialist and busy areas like data centres and
healthcare where levels are higher than ever.
With many contractors moving on and retiring,
coupled with a lack of young blood coming through
to the industry, employers are needing to entice
the best talent – and that usually starts with pay.
There’s a definite lack of digital skills in the
contractor market. Many workers go down the
contracting route because they have the specialist
skills for the here and now. But to make it a
sustainable career choice, contractors need to
continue to invest in themselves in ways to keep
their skills relevant to the future marketplace too.
IR35 education
43%
of respondents say
their business does
not employ
contract resource
But one of the biggest issues to affect the
contracting world at the moment is the lack of
knowledge and fear of IR35 legislation. Law
changes that came into effect in 2021 sparked
panic in many companies, with many choosing to
enforce risk-averse blanket bans. But now that
means they’re struggling to deliver on projects
because they’re lacking the quality, flexible
resource that a good contractor can bring to the
table.
The recent flip flop journey we’ve been on with IR35
is unbelievable. The one thing you need with
legislation is clarity and consistency. To not have
that at a time when companies are struggling to
RATES ARE PUSHING ABOVE PRE-
COVID LEVELS; SOME HIGHER THAN
WE'VE EVER SEEN THEM BEFORE.
hire has been a nightmare.
The key to overcoming these issues in 2023 – and
beyond – will be knowledge. The recruitment
industry needs to advise and educate employers
and would-be contractors to help them make
better, more informed decisions.
Even though the legislation has been around for a
long time, businesses haven’t needed to engage
with it in the way they are now. And it’s
subsequently been met with a lot of resistance.
But put simply, what defines a contractor as being
inside or outside the scope of IR35 hasn’t changed.
But with the responsibility of determining
contractor tax statuses now landing at the feet of
the employer, attitudes among businesses have
changed, usually because of perceived risk. But
easing this perceived risk at one end is just
causing a real-life risk at the other end – not
having the resource to do the job and complete
their projects profitably and on time. Blanket bans
are not the solution.
Hirers need to look at contracting resource as a
more viable solution. Surveys have shown that 84%
of the industry is struggling to hire, but 43% don’t
look towards contracting as a solution. In the
construction world, where everything revolves
around project workloads, having a flexible
resource is as important as being able to build
your business organically so contracting is the
simplest answer.
From Greystone’s perspective, we focus a lot of
our time on outside of IR35 assignments. It’s those
customers that we work very closely with, and I
think it’s the future of contracting. I don’t think the
change in legislation is going to be the death of it
at all, it’s just going on a bit of a journey and we
are in the middle of a cycle at the moment. I
believe companies will have to take a more flexible
and pragmatic approach to engaging contract
resource eventually. To avoid the real life risk of
failing to deliver.

28
C O N T R A C T
RELYING SOLELY ON PERM
TEAMS, AVOIDING THE
CONTRACTOR POPULATION, ONLY
INCREASES PRESSURE AND
WORKLOAD.
employer to employer, to offer a really high-quality
project-based solution – as long as you complete
the job you were hired for. It’s a brave choice to
make, but usually a rewarding one.
And the process of going from a permanent to
contract role is pretty simple. The only hurdle
might be a longer notice period to navigate before
moving to a contract, with employers often looking
to make quick hires.
Contract v permanent
In the days where personal motivation and wellbeing
are king, contracting offers workers more
flexibility and opportunities to have a career on
their terms. It’ll work for some, but permanent
may be better for others – it’s all about what fits
that person’s life. For example, if you want to take
a three-month sabbatical to travel the world or
plan on spending more time with family,
contracting may be the way to go.
What’s more, it’s probably more lucrative. Or it can
be, anyway. Contractors take on extra
responsibility and risk, and often bring more skills
to the table than their permanent counterparts, so
necessitate the higher pay.
Shifting towards contract work also opens up
much-needed conversations about hours of work.
With people paid for by the hour rather than on
salary, contractors work fewer hours and, as a
result, have a better work life balance. The amount
of people I see who are employed permanently who
work many more hours than contractors is
shocking. That’s where a contractor workforce can
add a lot of value, taking the strain of permanent
teams and stop them from moving on themselves.
Ultimately, if your skills are sought after, you
should be able to benefit and move around from
2023 predictions
Contractors will play a key role in the delivery of
projects in 2023. The perceived cliff edge at the
end of the pandemic hasn’t materialised at all. If
anything, it’s just a bigger mountain to climb.
Everywhere I look in the industry, there are
businesses working relentlessly and constantly in
need of more support. It’s just whether that
demand for resource can be satisfied. With
demand continuing, pay rates will continue to
increase too.
If employers want their businesses to thrive, they
have to invest more in the industry and do their bit
to make skills more accessible. Let’s try and invest
in more people – whether contract or permanent.
We should also support more women back to the
sector so that these skills are more freely
available. Businesses should also encourage
contractors to invest in themselves, give them
opportunities to apply their new-found skills and
give them time to succeed.
Generally, more also needs to be done to promote
the building services industry to attract new blood.
It all starts with education at school level, where
we can sow the seeds of an appealing career in a
well-paid sector so we can reap the benefits in
years to come.
We will insure you against potential
IR35 disputes
Our partnership with Kingsbridge means that we
cover the cost of insurance for our contractors
against any potential IR35 disputes.
For businesses, this means you can have a fully
compliant, insured and talented workforce via
Greystone. Your projects can continue fully staffed,
we take on the responsibility and risk, you can save
time on IR35 administration and save £1000s in
legal advice - it's all part of the package.
Watch our explainer video

29
C O N T R A C T R A T E S P E R H O U R
Mechanical London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£47 - £62 £42 - £53 £40 - £49 £40 - £50
£35- £41
£38 - £48
£33 - £40
£30 - £38
% change from 2022 +3.5% +5.5% +6% +3.5% +3% +6.5% +12.5% +4.5%
Principal
£43- £55 £37 - £45 £33 - £42 £35 - £45
£33 - £40
£38 - £45
£30 - £40
£26 - £36
% change from 2022 +10% +9.5% +6.5% +6.5% +8.5% +9.5% +15% +6%
Senior
£37 - £45 £32 - £40 £32 - £40 £30 - £41
£30 - £35
£33 - £40
£25 - £32
£25 - £35
% change from 2022 +12% +7% +7% +5% +5% +7.5% +10.5% +9%
Intermediate
£28 - £37 £27 - £35 £25- £35 £27 - £34
£23 - £32
£28 - £35
£24 - £30
£24 - £30
% change from 2022 +7.5% +9.5% +7.5% +8% +6.5% +10.5% +8.5% +8.5%
Electrical London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£50 - £65 £35 - £55 £35 - £47 £40 - £52
£35- £43
£38 - £50
£33 - £40
£30 - £40
% change from 2022 +7% +2% +4% +4% +4% +4.5% +12.5% +9%
Principal
£45- £52 £40 - £53 £33 - £45 £35 - £45
£34 - £40
£35 - £45
£28 - £38
£29 - £36
% change from 2022 +8.5% +17% +8% +8% +9% +5% +9.5% +9%
Senior
£38 - £45 £35 - £45 £33 - £40 £30 - £41
£28 - £37
£30- £40
£25 - £33
£25 - £33
% change from 2022 +9% +11% +9% +5% +9% +5% +7% +6%
Intermediate
£30 - £37 £28 - £37 £25 - £35 £25 - £32
£23 - £33
£29 - £35
£23- £31
£22 - £30
% change from 2022 +10.5% +14% +10% -6% +8% +12.5% +11% +6.5%
Public Health London South East South West Midlands North East North West Wales Scotland
Associate
£45 - £52 £42 - £47 £37 - £42 £40 - £50
£34 - £41
£37 - £47
£29 - £36
£28 - £36
Principal
£40 - £50 £40 - £45 £35 - £41 £32 - £42
£31 - £37
£34 - £42
£27 - £33
£26 - £34
Senior
£38 - £45 £36 - £40 £33 - £38 £30 - £39
£28 - £34
£30- £38
£24 - £30
£23 - £32
Intermediate
£35 - £40 £35 - £37 £30 - £35 £25 - £34
£21 - £31
£25 - £32
£20 - £29
£20 - £29

30
C O N T R A C T
Rate Trends
Contract Rates
When we look at the country on the whole, it's
interesting to see which areas demonstrate the
largest areas of growth, in terms of rate rises.
The map shows the year-on-year average
percentage increase across all disciplines;
highlighting the areas with the most growth, and
those with the least.
Whilst it is a positive to see rates increasing
across the country, it's particularly interesting to
see that Wales has gone from the lowest region
for growth in 2021, to the highest in 2022.
All other regions have experienced good levels of
rate rises, bar the Midlands, where rates did not
increase as significantly as they did in 2021.
Average Salary Change
4%
5-7%
8-10%
SCOTLAND
+7%
2%
YOY
NORTH EAST
+6%
1%
YOY
NORTH WEST
+7%
WALES
+10%
SOUTH WEST
+7%
2%
YOY
6%
YOY
2%
YOY
MIDLANDS
+4%
1%
YOY
SOUTH EAST
+9%
LONDON
+7%
2%
YOY
3%
YOY

31
Feeling undervalued
Feeling underpaid
Pay review coming up
Recently Chartered
Moving geographically
Promotion meeting booked
If you want to know your value in today’s market, get in touch
with our team for an initial discovery call.
Simon Wilson Phil Hodgson Dan Esfandiari
DIRECTOR & FOUNDER
PERMANENT RECRUITMENT
T: 020 3800 1652
M: 07428 909 620
simonwilson@greystone-engineering.com
DIRECTOR & FOUNDER
CONTRACT RECRUITMENT
T: 020 3011 1835
M: 07846 808 528
philhodgson@greystone-engineering.com
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
SUSTAINABILITY & BUILDING PHYSICS
T: 020 3800 1657
M: 07828 308 605
danesfandiari@greystone-engineering.com
For every member you recommend that we place, you
will be rewarded with a £1,000 finders fee.
Whilst an exclusive club. there's no limit to the
number of potential new members you can
recommend. The more members we welcome in, the
more money you have to spend!
Click here for terms and conditions.
REFER SOMEONE

We can improve your hire
success.
020 3011 1834
salaryguide@greystone-engineering.com
Trends data within this report were gathered by Greystone between 01 November 2022 - 31 December 2022. Data represents 678 survey respondents. Salaries & rates data
collected between 01 January 2022 - 31 December 2022.