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Success Stories Sucess Stories
EIC Survive& &Thrive Thrive IX EIC Survive 2025
2025 JulyJuly 2025
Story type #energy transition (main category) #culture, #environmental sustainability & social impact, #transformation
Benefits
Spencer Odgen Transforming into a sustainability staffing leader James Pipe
Regan Callender
Global Client Services Director
Global ESG Manager
How is Spencer Odgen thriving? By repositioning itself from a traditional oil and gas recruiter to a go-to for sustainability talent, Spencer Ogden has significantly expanded its renewables business, growing this segment by 53% in 2023 to now represent over 70% of total operations. The company’s client-centric transformation, underpinned by robust ESG initiatives such as removing 12,240kg of ocean plastic through Seven Clean Seas and donating over £15,000 to Cool Earth, has strengthened relationships with organisations leading the energy transition. Revenues have also increased, growing from £104m in 2020 to £143m in 2024. The challenge - Founded in 2010, Spencer Ogden established itself as a specialist energy sector recruitment firm with a significant focus on oil and gas. However, the post-COVID period brought rapid shifts in global markets and accelerated the energy transition in response to new policies and industry demands. These changes presented both challenges and opportunities. In this changing market, Spencer Ogden underwent a strategic transformation in 2023, realigning its business model and leadership. They wanted to put client centricity at the heart of the organisation, moving away from transactional relationships to become a strategic partner for clients navigating complex workforce challenges, a pivot resulting in adjustments to company values, business objectives and commercial focus. Additionally, sustainability has become increasingly important to both clients and employees, with research from McKinsey indicating 54% of young people consider ESG credentials when choosing employers. As a result, Spencer Ogden sought to lead the way in energy recruitment and develop authentic environmental and social initiatives that would truly resonate. The solution - The transformation began with setting a clear strategic objective to become the sustainability staffing leader, what the company refers to as ‘realigning profit with purpose’. This vision, established in 2023 under new CEO Henry De Lusignan, drove fundamental changes throughout the organisation. Spencer Ogden restructured operations around three core sectors (sustainability,
natural resources and infrastructure) and created dedicated teams with specialised expertise. This realignment involved difficult decisions, including closing smaller offices and reducing headcount in others to strengthen the core business and focus resources where they could deliver maximum value. Central to the new strategy was embedding client centricity throughout the business. Spencer Ogden made key hires to strengthen its global client services team and redesigned its previously flat structure to better support different client needs. The new model included a global key accounts team focusing on strategic partnerships, a managed service provider unit for high-volume projects, and retail sales teams providing broader support – all working together to deliver sophisticated workforce solutions. Complementing these structural changes, Spencer Ogden created a dedicated ESG Manager role in 2022 to centralise and enhance its sustainability initiatives. This appointment led to several impactful programmes, including partnerships with Seven Clean Seas (removing 1kg of ocean plastic for every placement made) and Cool Earth (receiving donations linked to the internal peer recognition system). The company also began emissions measurement and target setting, adopting Science Based Targets Initiative frameworks and establishing a validated 2035 net zero roadmap. Implementation has been supported by robust governance mechanisms, including an ESG committee with board membership and representatives from different departments and regions. This provided an effective feedback loop and ensured decisions could be made quickly. Communication was prioritised, with updates through internal channels and an external LinkedIn newsletter about the company’s ESG journey. A particularly innovative initiative was the development of the industry’s first sector-specific training programme for all sales personnel, integrated into the career framework. This course outlines Spencer Ogden’s vision and purpose while incorporating environmental and social elements, helping ensure consistent understanding across all teams. By March 2025, 80% of sales staff had completed this training, which contributed over £167,000 in new business. The results of this transformation have been
▸ The company has achieved 53% growth in its renewable’s businesses. ▸ Further expansions to new markets such as onshore and offshore wind, nuclear and data centres.
Key findings For young people ▸ Be really open to learning, be open minded, get involved and do your best. For industry ▸ Share your successes and challenges in regard to energy transition. For government ▸ We need to balance energy security with emerging technology, skills and infrastructure limits and environmental concern.
Spencer Ogden at a glance: Key products and services: workforce solutions and recruitment. Main industries served: ▸ Offshore renewable energy – 15% ▸ Onshore renewable energy – 15% ▸ Conventional power – 15% ▸ Oil and gas – 8% ▸ Energy storage – 8% ▸ Hydrogen – 2% ▸ Nuclear power – 2% ▸ Carbon capture – 1% ▸ Others (energy): grid, sustainable materials, energy intense industries – 34% Headquarters: London, UK Year established: 2010 Number of employees: 259 Revenue: £144m
eye opening. In addition to 53% growth in renewables business, the company has achieved a 35% reduction in office electricity emissions and increased employee volunteering by 107%. Now, Spencer Ogden is focusing on further expansion in onshore and offshore wind, nuclear power and non-energy sectors such as data centres. While the company faces challenges including legislative complexity, political instability and skills gaps, its clear purpose and client-centric approach position it well to navigate these hurdles. By pivoting from a traditional recruitment provider to a purpose-driven sustainability staffing leader, Spencer Ogden has created a distinctive position in the market – one that aligns with the evolving needs of the energy sector while delivering meaningful environmental and social impact alongside commercial success.