Critical Infrastructure Specialists

An Interview with Chris Brookes, Managing Director of Pentagon Technical Services

The engineering and construction industries are in a constant battle for skilled talent. While traditional hiring models fail to keep up with demand, Pentagon Technical Services (PTS) is taking a different approach: Hire. Train. Deploy. But what does that mean for businesses? And why would PTS invest time and resources into training talent only to send them elsewhere?

We sat down with Chris Brookes, the driving force behind PTS, to discuss this unique model and why it’s changing the game.

Chris, let’s get straight to it. Why does PTS train people only to hand them over to the customer? Doesn’t that seem counterintuitive?

Chris Brookes: At first glance, it might seem like we’re losing personnel at the end of the process. But the truth is, we’re solving a critical industry problem—the shortage of skilled talent. Instead of competing for the same small talent pool, we’re expanding it.

We embed leaders and subject matter experts within our customers projects, we the hire fresh talent training them up on a live project, ensuring they’re mission ready. At the end of the agreed training phase we then transition the upskilled talent directly into our customers’ workforce. It’s about building the next generation of skilled professionals. Our customers get fully trained, fully integrated people, and we keep the cycle moving. It’s not about short-term wins—it’s about the long-term strength of the industry and this is how we like to partner with our customers.

That’s a different mindset from traditional service provider. What’s the real advantage for businesses?

Chris Brookes: We’re not like other service providers and we understand when our people have been deployed for a long duration within our customers ecosystem, the knowledge they have gained if moved away can be detrimental to forward operations. We don’t just place people into roles and walk away—we train them, deploy them, and make sure they’re battle-ready for the customer’s environment. We work closely with our customers and at the end of an agreed assignments, we will agree to transfer key people directly into their business unit so they retain the knowledge.  

Take one of our recent partners – they needed 20 operatives trained and deployed into their business. We built that workforce, trained them to their specific needs, and delivered the personnel directly into their operation.

The customer doesn’t have to worry about training, onboarding, or whether their new hires can handle the job—they already know they can. They get skilled, committed professionals ready to execute from day one.

Some businesses rely on freelance contractors to fill gaps. Why should they consider PTS instead?

Chris Brookes: Freelancers are a short-term fix. They come in, do a job, and move on. But what if you want a dedicated team? What if you want consistency? How do you learn lessons if the people are always moving on?

With PTS, you get your own full-time delivery team. No more scrambling for last-minute contractors. No more uncertainty about who’s turning up on Monday morning. We build the workforce for you, tailored to your business with our leadership team in place to manage the integration process.

And if you don’t have the time or structure to train people yourself, we take care of that too. You focus on your vision, and we’ll supply the troops to take care of the mission.

So PTS benefits by generating revenue over the training period, and the customer benefits by getting a trained team at the end?

Chris Brookes: Exactly. We train them, we deploy them, and the customer gains the long-term benefit of skilled professionals.

For us, it’s about playing the long game – we invest in people, we build trust with customers, and we create solid industry relationships. Every cycle strengthens our network.

We don’t just fill gaps—we create long-term solutions. Then we go again. Rinse. Repeat. Win.

Final question—if a company is struggling to build and develop its workforce, what’s your message to them?

Chris Brookes: Simple: Are you tired of seeing the same mistakes happen time and time again? Do you want your own full-time delivery team? Do you have the time and resources to build it yourself?

If the answer is no, then PTS is your solution.

We bring in skilled talent, train them up, and transition them into your business seamlessly. This is a unique service that no one else is offering at this scale. We are mission-focused, operationally ready, and committed to delivering results.