LONDON, July 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Construction professionals are quicker than their residential property colleagues - at least in a Formula One car - as they set a quicker lap time on F1 simulators at an event held by Randstad, UK sector specialist recruiter and official partner of the Williams F1 team.

Construction workers were almost three seconds quicker round the virtual Silverstone F1 circuit than residential property workers, setting a lap time of 2.02.031.

Both sets of professionals were given the chance to test their speed and reflexes against Bruno Senna, nephew of the legendary late Ayrton Senna and a driver for the Williams F1 team, as well as to take part in a competitive sector versus sector competition against other professions.  

Construction workers' joy was short-lived, however, as both they and residential property workers were soundly beaten by civil engineers, who set the fastest average laptime of 1.57.482. Construction workers could only manage third place in the overall rankings after being pipped into second by manufacturing professionals, who motored to an average lap time of 1.59.678

Both sectors outpaced the banking sector, which was relegated into second last place after labouring to an average lap time of 2.17.528 - over 15 seconds slower than those working in construction jobs.

Nevertheless, the biggest surprise of the competition came from Senna's time of 1.47.393 being bettered by a fast-moving project manager, Attila Barnacz from construction and civil engineering firm Vinci, who clocked a time of 1.43.837 - proving that civil engineering careers can sometimes beat jobs in F1. However, Attila was able to take advantage of the full capability of the simulator, racing with traction control on and in automatic, compared to the manual mode used by the F1 driver.

The event was held on 4^th July in a marquee just outside Canary Wharf tub station in Reuters Plaza. After setting lap times on the F1 simulators provided by Williams, guests later moved into Smollensky's bar and restaurant where they were able to challenge Senna on a large-scale Scalextric.

Randstad's construction and property clients were given the chance to meet Senna, with photo calls, autograph signing, and an informal discussion where professionals were able to find out what makes Senna tick.

Owen Goodhead, managing director of Randstad CPE, commented: "The lap times threw up some surprising results and confounded some of the stereotypes labelled to certain jobs. Both construction workers and residential property professionals are used to working speedily to meet tight deadlines, but it was construction workers who proved the coolest under pressure and were able to pip their property industry colleagues.

"After chatting to Bruno, a number of our clients were surprised at the similarities between F1 and what it takes to be successful as a construction professional. Working as a team, specialist knowledge, and accuracy are all vital ingredients to a winning F1 team, just as they are in the construction industry."

- ENDS -

Notes to editors

The Randstad group is one of the leading recruitment & HR services providers in the world with a top five position in the UK and a top three position in fifteen countries including the US, France and Germany.

In the UK, Randstad's business lines serve the public and private sectors across Accounting and Financial services; Business Support; Construction, Property and Engineering; Education; Health and Social Care; Interim Management and Search; Human Resources; IT; Legal; Retail; Sales, Marketing and Creative; Student and Worker Support and In-House and Managed Services.

Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering has over 50 years of history and sector insight complemented with an array of awards and accreditations including: Investors in People (since 1994), ISO 9001, Sunday Times Top 100 Company status, REC, APSco, CHAS, Link Up, British Safety Council, FMA, BIFM and is Diversity Assured and Equality Assured.

At the end of 2011, Randstad had 1,930 corporate employees in the UK, working in 255 locations. UK revenue in 2011 was €789 million. Randstad was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Diemen, the Netherlands. Randstad Holding nv is listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam. For more information see http://www.randstad.co.uk and http://www.randstad.com.

SOURCE Randstad CPE