SDS wins Queen’s Enterprise Award
APLYMOUTH engineering consultancy which allows staff time off to coach rugby, go for a run or organise a scout pack and leaves gifts on their desks has been honoured by the Queen with the highest award for a business.
Services Design Solution Ltd (SDS) has won more than 10 awards in the past few years and has now put the cherry on top by being given the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
The company, based at the Millfields in Stonehouse, has been lauded for its outstanding achievements in sustainable development and will receive the award at Buckingham Palace. Shaun Hoppins, SDS managing director, said: “This is the pinnacle. The Queen’s Award was the one we most wanted, it’s national recognition. And it reflects the efforts our staff put in, in terms of supporting the community.”
SDS prides itself on its social and community work – and looking after its workforce. SDS gives its staff Friday afternoons off if they have already hit their hours, and works flexibly with employees spending two days working from home. Workers have even been known to find gifts on their desks when they do come into the office.
“There has been a huge focus on mental health recently, but well being is more than that,” said Katherine Archer, business support manager. “It’s about making sure staff are looking after themselves, and supporting them.”
The company, which was a Western Morning News Business Award winner in 2019, is among the most successful engineering consultancies in the country and has worked on many impressive projects, including the Nightingale Hybrid Facility, in Exeter, during the Covid pandemic and is involved in the creation of
Plymouth’s Health and Wellbeing Centre at Colin Campbell Court.
But aside from commercial success, SDS is focused on helping the community too. The consultancy donates 1% of turnover to community and wellbeing projects, with 30% of its contributions going to causes in Plymouth.
In 2020, SDS became net carbon neutral by offsetting and minimising carbon emissions and establishing a green travel policy and is now aiming to become carbon negative
SDS supplied pro bono services for the zero carbon CobBauge research project for energy-efficient homes, at the University of Plymouth, and for the refurbishment of the YMCA’s centre at Honicknowle.
SDS has been working with Millfields Inspired, the charity which helps inspire young people in Stonehouse
to look at career paths. She said charities such as Children’s Hospice South West, Hugs from Henry and Shekinah have all been assisted by SDS, and it has supported the literary campaigns Ablaze Bristol and Plymouth’s The Story Gifters.
Staff are involved in activities to help the community, such as litter picking at Royal William Yard, and with the soup run and Age UK. One person is a scout leader, another coaches rugby, someone else works with dog rescue, and another is involved in Bristol’s Parkrun initiative. Mr Hoppins said: “We give them time off to do what’s important to them, for community work. They get a sense of purpose from it and it helps with staff retention, so it benefits us as a company.”
Mr Hoppins stressed that the wellbeing of staff is vitally important and said: “We are a consultancy, so all we sell is people. We have a huge commitment to training and the development and support of our staff. I remember the opportunities I had when I was an apprentice, the opportunities it gave me to go to college and university.”
SDS was set up in 2004 and now has more than 70 staff working in offices in five offices, Aside from its headquarters in Plymouth, it has offices in Exeter and Bristol, and recently opened in Cardiff and
Truro. The firm’s track record has led to it winning several top awards. SDS was named Consultancy of the Year 2021 by South West Business Insider and took the Best UK Consultancy (small and medium) honour from the Association of Consultancy and Engineering Awards.
It also landed the SME of the Year title in the Construction Excellence South West Awards, and will now compete for the national trophy. SDS was also shortlisted for the national Building Awards, for best engineering consultancy. It has also been honoured by Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, at the Plymouth Armed Forces Awards, the Bristol Property Awards and has moved up to number 143, from 149, in the list of top UK construction professionals, and is also in the national top 50 engineering consultancies.
‘We give staff time off to do what’s important to them, for community work’ SHAUN HOPPINS