I didn’t know what I wanted to do, to be honest. I left sixth form and was trying to decide my next step. One of the local engineering firms was offering apprenticeships, and I thought, ‘that sounds like something I’d be into.’

 

I think it was meant to be a four-year course, but I managed to complete it in three years, and win ‘Apprentice of the Year ’, which was a nice little award back then. I stayed there for a while, travelling the country doing installation work, and then I got loaned out to a facilities management contract at Toyota. That was the first introduction to FM, and I thought, ‘you know what, I really enjoy this’. It was much better than being on cold building sites all the time and working away every weekend.

 

I worked there a good few years and then progressed into a lead engineer role, which gave me the taste for supervising and managing people. At that point I got offered a job with Salisbury Group, which in time became part of Atlas. It attracted me as it seemed a great business that was growing and the values aligned with my own. Not too long after joining, one of the AC engineers I’d worked closely with left, which gave me the opportunity to do an F-gas course.  I later moved up to supervisor level following the creation of the new role, and I’ve never looked back since. Honestly, it’s your fairly typical ‘take the opportunities as they come along’ story…

 

Supervising was a big adjustment, though. Going from working on the tools to working on a laptop a lot of the time and managing people as well. It takes a while to adjust, and it changes your relationships with people.  

 

To be fair, I had a lot of support and training when I stepped up to supervisor. It was a new role, so there wasn’t really a framework fully in place. We made it our own and whatever we needed it to be to best suit the team. Then earlier this year a space for a new manager opened up, and that brings us to today.

A lot of people think management is very different to engineering; in some ways it is, but I’d still say problem solving is the main priority. Making sure engineers have got everything they need. Making sure scheduling is working as efficiently as it can. Dealing with issues as they come in; people can’t find parts; people are struggling on jobs… You learn and adapt; the longer you do it, the better you become at anticipating what the team needs.  

 

What’s important to me is supporting mental health. That’s always been a key factor in my life and how I manage. At a very basic level, the most important thing a manager can do is create a nice environment where nobody dreads coming to work. One of the most fulfilling parts of the job is being able to support people when they come to me and say they’re struggling. Having that time to sit down, talk to them, and help however I can.

To have them come back a few weeks later and say I helped them, even just in a small way, means a lot to me. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to you.

 

That’s probably the most rewarding part of the job. One thing this job has taught me is how unique people are. You have to understand how to approach different people. Not jump to conclusions. Try to empathise with what they might be experiencing. Usually, if we can improve one person’s issue, there are probably ten other people having the same issue who just haven’t spoken about it.

If you asked me what it takes to do this job well, I’d probably say it starts with the attitude you bring to work. If you come in with a positive, can-do outlook, everything usually falls into place, people are more willing to support you, and that positivity rubs off on others as well.  

 

People outside the industry probably don’t realise how much goes into keeping buildings running. It’s not just mechanical bits. It’s everything that comes into your building. Water, heating, plumbing, toilets, compliance, safety checks. It would become very messy very quickly if we stopped doing our jobs. After all these years, there are things I still can’t switch off from. I’m terrible when I’m out shopping or going out for food. I’m always looking up at emergency lights or to see if the aircon needs servicing; honestly, I’m terrible for it.  

I’ll leave you with the strangest story from my time in a van… I was driving to a site near Peterborough one morning, with an apprentice, looked out of my window and thought….  

After a few moments in the twilight zone, I called my wife, who works for the RSPCA, to ask her what you do if you see a kangaroo bouncing down the road.  

Well, it turns out we have wallabies in this country. I never knew that.