A Winning Team: Celebrating Hydram Employees

We always look to champion our team members and shine a light in recognition of their achievements as they arise throughout the year. In addition, we spend time at the end of each year reflecting on these successes and award employees and teams based on demonstrating the values of the company as well as skills and personal advancements.  

The 2025 Hydram Employee Awards went to:  

Employees of the Year: Sean Magee, David Hamilton, Paul Tindale  

Most improved Employees of the Year: Stuart Cook, Rafal Razniak, Michael Wilkinson  

Apprentice of the Year: Natasha McLaren  

Team of the Year: Welding & Dressing Team  

Now, more than six months on, we spent time with some of the winners of the awards to get an insight into what they enjoy most about their role and working at Hydram, what they are looking forward to achieving by the end of this year and finally what advice they would pass on.  

Dave Brentley a member of the welding team, which won Team of the Year, commented: “This past year and on receiving the award I’m most proud of the quality performance of the team and seeing them consistently deliver high quality. I think it puts us and the business in a great position, and I look forward to seeing the team develop as the business continues to invest in our welding capabilities.  

“The advice I always give and what I’d want to hear is to make your career, whatever that may be, what you want to do. Then it will never truly feel like work.” 

Employee of the Year, Sean Magee, primary operations added: “My advice to the younger generation would be to work hard and really listen. And always look for opportunities for promotion, so that you continue to learn and grow. 

“At Hydram, there are great chances to be promoted and you’re able to surround yourself with a good bunch of people that you can have a laugh with but also ask questions of. Especially in my role, people tend to think we just press a button. And okay, we do that too but if we don’t consider the material or set the laser head properly then that leads to quality issues – and quality is something that you have to check closely. This is when working with a team you can trust and learn from is key.  

“And looking ahead to achievements for this year, I would like to win the award again – retain the title!” 

Stuart Cook, primary operations and winner of Most Improved Employee of the Year concluded: “The people I work with at Hydram are brilliant and it’s actually really great to have been given this award as there’s often a misconception on how skilled the role is. You have to be able to read drawings accurately and attention to detail is important as setting up is key because mistakes can’t be rectified – you can’t reweld or rework, you have to redo.  

“So, my advice to those just starting their careers is the same to those who may have worked for years; pay attention to learn the skills required.” 

We also asked what project they felt had the biggest impact on the business in the past year. And the result across the board was a resounding expansion of our Supplier Excellence Recognition with Caterpillar. You can read more about that here.  

And, if you’re looking for your next role and want to work in a company that values and rewards its employees and provides opportunities to learn, grow and work on projects that have national importance – take a look at a current vacancies.