Our People

Rakulan Kuhanathan

'No matter what age they are or what level, people are ready to give you their advice and help and knowledge.'

Rakulan Kuhanathan

"Everyone is really open"

Rak Kuhanathan has wanted to be a civil engineer since primary school. And having landed a job working on Battersea Power Station Phase 3, Graduate Engineer Rak says he feels like he’s hit the jackpot.

Rak completed two work placements at Bloomberg while studying for his bachelors and masters degrees in civil engineering.

And it was the first of these placements that confirmed to him that this was the career for him and we were the company he wanted to work for.

“I liked the lifestyle, being on site and in an office, and I liked the people,” says Rak. “The thing I heard was you have to find the construction company that’s right for you. And what I found when I got to Sir Robert McAlpine was that they are the most down to earth people. They just seem to be genuinely nice.”

“No matter what age they are or what level, people are ready to give you their advice and help and knowledge. Everyone is just really open.

“It is definitely the family vibe. You get it from day one. I was new to the company when I started my placement and now I feel part of McAlpine.”

Rak is delighted to find himself at Battersea which has the UK’s largest concrete package outside the nuclear sector.

“As a civil engineer it’s like I’ve hit the jackpot. It’s very busy but I’m enjoying it and I’m learning a lot, applying my knowledge while learning the practical side of things.”

Meet the team

  1. Max Hacon

    Max Hacon

    After graduating in Civil Engineering at Bristol University, Max joined us in January 2018. We caught up with him to find out more about the start of his career with us.

    Read more
  2. Ella Mills

    Ella Mills

    Ella is undertaking a Planning Apprenticeship, whilst studying Construction Management at London Southbank Uni. We caught up with Ella to learn about her experiences so far.

    Read more
  3. Luigi Pettinato

    Luigi Pettinato

    Luigi completed his studies and started out on his engineering career in his home country of Italy. We were pleased to welcome him to our team in May 2018, after he had relocated to the UK. We spoke to him about the move and his experiences with us.

    Read more
  4. Jack Arnold

    Jack Arnold

    Jack joined the business in 2014 after two placements with us during his degree in Construction Engineering Management at Loughborough University. We caught up with him to get his take on working at Sir Robert McAlpine.

    Read more
  5. Peter Vlaar

    Peter Vlaar

    After studying Building Engineering in the Netherlands, Peter started his career as a 3D modeller in 2008, then joined a large Dutch contractor as a BIM Specialist in 2011 – before joining us in 2017. We spoke to Peter about his decision to join us and what it’s like to work here.

    Read more
  6. Placement Student Sam Davey

    Sam Davey

    Sam is one of the undergraduate students we are sponsoring through their studies. As he is currently on his Industrial Placement year with us, we took the opportunity to chat to him about his experiences and plans for the future.

    Read more
  7. Stuart Pendleton

    Stuart Pendleton

    Stuart had worked in construction management on both the client-side and contractor-side before he joined us in summer 2018 as a Bid Manager. We spoke to him about his move and his first impressions of the company.

    Read more
  8. Charmaine Myers

    Karla Jiggins

    Karla is one of many members of our team who’ve achieved over ten years’ service at Sir Robert McAlpine. Unusually for a Quantity Surveyor, she initially graduated and worked in Human Resources. We spoke to her about her switch and her career here.

    Read more

  9. Helen Denham

    Helen started her career as a Veterinary Nurse and went on to work in Wildlife Conservation and Land Management. After achieving an Open University Human Geography Degree at 38, she joined the construction industry.

    Read more