Sewell people: 100 not out

Here at Sewell Facilities Management, we’ve hit the magic number for the first time – we now have a team of over 100 employees! 

Recent big contract wins, such as our partnerships with Yorkshire Ambulance Service and Dogger Bank Wind Farm, mean that we’ve expanded quickly, taking on lots of new team members in the last few months. 

You may be thinking about joining the company – perhaps you’ve even found a role with us you think would be perfect – but you may wonder what it’s like working for Sewell FM. We asked some of our team to let you know what it’s like being one of our FM family. 

Laurence’s story 

Hi, I’m Laurence Houlison, and I’m a Water Hygiene Supervisor at Sewell FM. 

I started working for Sewell FM back in 2019, as a Facilities Officer at Hob Moor School in York – the role involved taking care of everything facilities-related at the school, so there was a lot of variety. The school had a hydrotherapy pool, which it was my job to look after. I enjoyed this, and I’d done a plumbing apprenticeship in the past, so I told my manager that I’d love to develop my skills in this area. 

At around the same time, the company was thinking about bringing water hygiene services in-house, as it was being handled by an external company. They asked me if I’d be interested in taking on this service. I definitely was! I did some training and a qualification in legionella awareness, and then started overseeing water hygiene services for five different schools in York. The work increased over time, and I moved into a mobile role as a water hygiene technician across all Sewell FM’s area. 

A few years on, and I now run a small team of water hygiene technicians covering facilities from the Midlands to the North East, and we’re hoping to expand further in future to take on even more people as demand for our services grow. 

I love working for Sewell FM because you’re treated like a person, and not just like another member of staff. People check in to make sure you have everything you need, but I’m not micromanaged, and I’m able to schedule my own diary. The other week, my kids had sports day on Friday afternoon, so I planned my hours to make sure I had everything done early so I could go and watch them compete. Flexibility like this makes it much easier for parents like me. 

I’m also allowed to make my own decisions. If I think we could do things in a better way, or I want to change the products that we use, as long as it’s for a good reason, I’m supported all the way. 

I was also recently elected as the Co-Owner Council representative for Sewell Facilities Management. The company’s part employee-owned, and all our team members are co-owners, so we get a greater say in how the company is run, and we also get to share in the profits. I speak to people around Sewell FM and feed their views back to the council – and I even get to go to board meetings and represent people’s views. It was a bit daunting at first, but it’s given me a great opportunity to meet more people and learn about the wider business. 

If you’re thinking about joining the company, I’d say that if you work well with others, you’ll be the right fit for us. Although we’re growing as a company, we still have a family feel, and there are lots of opportunities to progress in your career – as I’ve shown in my career journey! 

Charmaine’s story 

Hello, my name’s Charmaine Corr, and I joined Sewell FM this year as a Commercial Admin Apprentice. 

My job is to support our commercial team at head office with anything and everything they may need. From dealing with invoices and contracts, through to communicating with clients and suppliers, I work with our team to make sure everything in the office runs smoothly. 

This job is really different to what I’ve done before. I used to work in retail, and then in healthcare while I was doing my nursing studies. It was a high stress environment, and the shift work was difficult, so I decided to look for something new. 

When I applied for the apprenticeship with Sewell FM, I didn’t think I’d get it – after all, aren’t apprentices normally straight out of school? But they offered me the role, which was fantastic, as I was really looking forward to trying something different. 

When I started the role, I found out Sewell FM has a GATEway programme. It’s the company’s pledge to give opportunities to people through graduate roles, apprenticeships, trainee opportunities and work experience. I was really glad they gave me a chance to retrain for a new career. 

Working in an office was strange at first, but I felt like part of the team straight away, and all my colleagues have been really welcoming and supportive. In September, I’m going to start the studying part of my apprenticeship. I’ve really enjoyed the finance side of the role, so we’re exploring options for me to study a financial qualification. 

I’m really glad I joined Sewell FM, and I’d say to anyone thinking of joining us – go for it! If you’re local to the area, you’ll probably know how much Sewell does, where it comes from, and how much it’s grown, and there are loads of opportunities coming up in the future. Because the company does so many things, and invests so heavily in training and development, you’re not stuck in one role. Lots of my colleagues started off in one area of the business, then found they had an opportunity to develop their role into something new, so there’s always space to grow your skills. 

I can’t wait to find out where my career with Sewell FM will go!