RED Engineering Design

Pros: I've learned a lot about building services design here. The senior engineers are solid mentors, especially for a junior design engineer. It's a good place to get hands-on project experience in the engineering consulting industry.
Cons: The company culture in the London office can be cliquey. There's not much transparency from leadership, and sometimes work-life balance suffers for deadlines. It's tough to feel heard.
Advice to Management: Focus on creating a more inclusive company culture. Open up communication channels between leadership and employees to foster better morale.

Pros: I liked working on varied building services projects. The technical challenges were pretty good for a Mechanical Design Engineer. The team in the London office was quite collaborative.
Cons: Leadership can be inconsistent and sometimes feels detached. They often don't communicate changes well, which impacts MEP engineering project planning. There's a lack of clear strategic direction from upper management.
Advice to Management: Focus on consistent and clear communication from senior leaders, especially regarding company direction and project priorities. Invest in training for middle management to improve team guidance and support within the engineering design teams.

Pros: It's a solid place to learn, especially as a new Design Engineer. I got good exposure to MEP consulting projects, like HVAC system design and energy modeling, in the London office. The engineering teams are helpful and it's mostly 40-hour weeks.
Cons: Career growth for design engineers really slows down after a couple of years. There isn't much of a clear path for promotion or professional development. You'll hit a ceiling if you're looking to move up quickly here in London.
Advice to Management: Focus on creating a clearer career progression framework. Invest in mentorship and professional development for design engineers beyond just project work. This will help with retention.

Pros: It's a solid place to learn the ropes, especially for entry-level engineering roles. As a Junior Mechanical Engineer, I got hands-on experience with basic HVAC design. The London office team is generally supportive, which is a plus.
Cons: Career progression feels pretty slow. There aren't many clear paths to move up unless someone leaves. Opportunities for advanced building services projects are limited, making it tough to grow technical skills beyond the basics.
Advice to Management: Management needs to create clearer career development plans for Junior Engineers. Offer more challenging building services projects and structured mentorship to help people grow faster. It'd help with retention too.

Pros: As a mechanical design engineer, I appreciate the hybrid model they introduced. You get a couple of days to work from home, which helps with the commute. They're decent about flexible start and end times for the most part.
Cons: True work flexibility here really depends on your project manager and deadlines, especially with tight MEP engineering projects. It's not a fully remote setup for most of us, so you're still in the office a lot. Can be tough to get consistent WFH if a big client meeting pops up.
Advice to Management: Try to standardize the work flexibility guidelines across all teams and projects. It can feel a bit arbitrary depending on your specific project manager, which makes planning tough.

Pros: The company has a really steady pipeline of building services engineering projects. I've been here as a Mechanical Design Engineer for a few years, and there's always work, which makes job security feel strong. No major layoff worries, even in the London office, it's a stable mid-sized consultancy.
Cons: While job security is good, career growth for specific engineering design roles can feel slow. There aren't many opportunities to move up quickly, and the path for promotion isn't always super clear. Sometimes you just feel like you're doing the same MEP projects without much advancement.
Advice to Management: Focus on creating clearer career paths and more advancement opportunities for your experienced engineering design roles. People appreciate stability, but they also want to see a future here.

Pros: As an MEP Engineer, I've learned a ton about building services design here. My immediate team in the London office was usually pretty solid and supportive, which helps when projects get tough.
Cons: The company culture feels a bit cliquey sometimes. It's hard to break into certain social circles, and sometimes leadership isn't super transparent about bigger company changes, which can be frustrating.
Advice to Management: Try to foster a more inclusive environment across all teams. Better communication from the top down would also make a huge difference for morale.

Pros: The team spirit here is genuinely good, especially among junior engineers. People are pretty collaborative on MEP design projects. It's nice to work in the London office, there's a decent vibe on most days.
Cons: Work-life balance can really take a hit during crunch times. Sometimes, it feels like leadership expects you to always be on. For a mid-sized firm, the flexibility isn't always there for onsite staff.
Advice to Management: Management needs to walk the talk on work-life balance. Encourage sustainable working hours across all teams. More transparency on project timelines would also help reduce stress.

Pros: I've gotta say, having the option to WFH two days a week was a big plus for a Design Engineer. It helped a lot with errands and appointments. The core hours aren't too bad either, giving a little wiggle room.
Cons: But honestly, two days remote is the absolute limit for most, even when you're just focused on project work. Getting any more flexibility or adjusting your daily start/end times significantly is really tough in the Manchester, UK office. It feels pretty rigid for a corporate engineering environment.
Advice to Management: Seriously consider more flexible remote options for engineering roles. Trust your people to get the work done, even if they're not in the office five days a week. It would really help with retention and attracting new talent.