Jacobs Employee Honored for Military Work to Fight COVID-19

Jacobs’ Logistics Director Tim Brent has been appointed to the Military Division as an Officer of the most excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to the Military COVID Support Force in the U.K., which assisted the country’s National Health Service (NHS) and other organizations in the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to his role at Jacobs Tim is an Army Reserve Officer, serving as Lieutenant Colonel in the Engineering and Logistics Staff Corps (ELSC), Royal Engineers. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the U.K., Tim was called up to join the team at NHS Gold Command, facilitating the delivery of support to frontline health workers.

In England, seven temporary critical care hospitals – known as Nightingale hospitals – were established early in the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the response to the crisis by the NHS. The ELSC was not only responsible for helping to build the Nightingale Hospitals, but also worked to improve the supply issues that were experienced as the pandemic initially escalated. Tim’s role was to understand and address the issues and work with industry to rapidly deliver the temporary hospitals.

Each year, a list of the Queen’s Birthday Honours is published in the U.K. to recognize and highlight people’s good deeds. Ordinarily the honors are announced to coincide with the Queen’s official birthday in June, but this year were pushed back to October because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recently-published list includes honors for those – like Tim – who have made significant contributions during COVID-19.

Speaking about his appointment as an Officer of the most excellent Order of the British Empire, Tim said “Needless to say, I am elated and humbled in equal measure - I never expected anything like this. I truly believe that my work at Jacobs will be enhanced by the experience I had and am grateful to have been temporarily released from my role with no notice to join the team at NHS Gold Command.”

Jacobs employs Reservists and Veterans all around the globe who bring with them a wide range of qualities and transferrable skills from their service in the military, from strong organizational and project management skills, to logistics and engineering capability and the ability to work in high pressure situations.

In the U.K. Jacobs has an established and enduring relationship with the British Armed Forces, having supported the Ministry of Defence for over 30 years, and was recognized for its commitment in 2019 with a Gold Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme which recognizes Jacobs' ongoing commitment to and advocacy for colleagues who serve and have served in the armed forces and its support of the wider community.

Tim was previously mobilized to provide assistance in the aftermath of hurricane Irma, which devastated communities in the Caribbean. You can read more about this here.