Tell us a bit about your background, what experience have you gained on your journey to BakerHicks?
I’ve been in the water industry for nearly 30 years now in a wide breadth of roles. Ranging from hands-on project management and civil engineering for small local companies, to building water tanks all over the world for big international organisations and working at Tier 1 design and build level for some of the largest water contractors in the UK.
There’s not a lot I’ve not done in the sector, but I’m always up for trying something new. I’m looking forward to bringing a fresh delivery approach to water projects ready for the challenges of the Asset Maintenance Plan 8 (AMP8) and beyond.
What made you want to specialise in water?
Thinking back, I’ve always loved architecture, buildings and nature – basically anything that involves creating or working with things which have lasting value. I’m passionate about creating an environment that can be enjoyed for generations to come. I also just enjoy being an engineer. I take great pride in looking at what we’ve designed, making a difference in improving sites and delivering innovative processes that really benefit both the project and wider society.
For me, water and its infrastructure, really brings all this together. Whether it’s through providing water that’s safe for human consumption, combating the effects of climate change, or water recycling, managing water effectively is such a vital element to creating a healthy and sustainable environment for generations to come.
What’s been your career highlight so far?
One of the things I’m most proud of is a project with Southern Water which involved building an extension to their largest water treatment site, guaranteeing safe water for thousands of people for years to come.
Securing a place on the Wessex & Welsh Water Framework whilst working for our sister company, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, would also be up there. This wasn’t just important work for the infrastructure in the area, but it also secured the jobs and future for hundreds of employees in the Welsh Water region for the next ten years.
Further afield, I was part of a team which built a water storage facility in Riyadh. In terms of sheer numbers, this might be some of the most impactful work of my career so far. We drilled down over four kilometres to access groundwater, and this eventually supplied part of the city and its eight million inhabitants. Until then, they’d relied on pumping desalinated water from the Persian Gulf, which was over 450 kilometres away!
Moving on to the industry, how would you summarise the current market in the water sector?
Water is an interesting place to be at the moment. As we’ve seen in the recent press, the market is going through a review and refocusing period. This combined with the biggest period of investment it’s ever seen will lead to a range of key focal points, including improving the environment and meeting net zero targets, addressing storm overflows and climate change concerns, and enhancing nature and biodiversity, to name a few.
This investment means a shift from short-term thinking to a more long-term strategic approach. We’re now seeing water companies developing 25-year plans to combat water shortages with water transfer projects, the building of new reservoirs, and water recycling.
All this means that the market is truly transitioning and there’s lots of potential for the work we’re all doing to make a real impact on people’s lives.
What challenges are you most looking forward to?
We have an opportunity to really challenge the norm on project delivery. The industry is changing rapidly, and conventional approaches will need to adapt with it. We have a lot of really innovative and forward-thinking engineers in the company, which, combined with the ability to pull from our experience in related sectors, such as Power, means we can offer a fresh way of thinking to meet these new challenges.
But what gets me up in the morning is working with and building a team of designers who feel equally strongly about making a difference. What we can achieve together is really incredible and I’m looking forward to seeing the impacts of this over the coming years. A key part of this is developing young talent, especially those who are passionate about water infrastructure and who understand its value to society. Keeping these individuals in the industry and nurturing their talent is what any success for the sector will be built on in the long-term.