At Lanes Group, we employ more than 2,200 talented professionals who help to ensure we retain our reputation as the biggest and best privately owned drainage and wastewater utility specialist in the UK. 

This requires significant levels of expertise across the board, from the drivers on the roads helping our customers day in, day out, to the engineers who spend their time maintaining the country’s drainage infrastructure, and of course, those behind the scenes in the offices coordinating all our activity. 

Maintaining these high levels of excellence and customer satisfaction is no mean feat, but it doesn’t mean there is no room for newcomers to the industry here at Lanes. 

In fact, we are proud to recruit many professionals from other career backgrounds and sectors who have not necessarily got experience working on the kinds of projects we carry out on a day-to-day basis. 

At Lanes, it’s much more about having a certain mindset and set of characteristics to help us preserve our high standards.

What we’re looking for 

At its heart, we want our entire workforce to be enthusiastic, committed, hard-working and energetic. 

Whether you have experience in the industry or not, there is likely to be a place for you here if you have these characteristics. 

There are some other skills we typically look for, regardless of the industry in which you have demonstrated those qualities in the past. They include: 

• Driving skills
• Communication skills
• Teamwork skills
• Willingness to learn
• Task planning and organisation skills
• Health and safety knowledge
• Decision-making skills
• Machinery and equipment operating skills

Why the drainage sector? 

So, why should someone from another industry decide to work in the drainage sector? 

There are plenty of reasons - one of which being that there is longevity in the sector as there is always a demand for our services - and we’ve outlined many others in our article
“What it’s actually like to work in the drainage industry”.

Staff stories

Across the entire group, there are many examples of newcomers to the drainage industry finding job satisfaction in their new roles. 

But don’t just take our word for it - we have a range of staff stories that describe how their lives have changed after swapping their old vocation for life at Lanes: 

Shaun Ciccone - joined Lanes Utilities in 2016 following a 30-year career as a restaurant bar and pub manager
Kyle Smith - a painter and decorator for ten years before joining Lanes as a jet vac tanker assistant/engineer
Leigh Friend - joined Lanes Utilities in 2014 after working as a plumber and floor screeder, and is now a Regional Manager
James Lewis - the former car salesman is now a drainage engineer in Kidlington

Want to find out more about working at Lanes? Read more of our staff stories. 

Take a look at our jobs

Interested in applying for a role at Lanes? If so, you can explore our jobs here.  

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