Like most I left school at 16, started a Job at a local firm making Swictgear (called Spectar Switchgear) This was 1988, left in 1997 and joined a very small company making control panels for various customers and some security panels, didn’t like the company and left after 2 1/2 years. A friend was working for a company who manufacture, commission and maintain Diesel UPS machines, a Dutch owns company with a UK office, I got the Job as a afield service engineer, this was summer 2000. 2 years in I progressed to Commissioning Engineer. Still doing this. I’ve worked in many countries (and seen how the people in these countries view the UK) The company has been sold twice, firstly to a Capitalist Venture group who were only interested in profit, now owned by a Japanese Engineering company so I am hopeful things will improve. So that’s me, 3 jobs in 32 years. Is that boring and showing a lack of ambition?
Don’t think it’s boring or lacking ambition. I would say that though, been with same company for over 30 years. I like my job and the people I work with, you ?
Not boring at all ambition is in your job every day by doing the right thing and head towards the end product
I like the job and some of the people. Some of the Dutch Engineers are friends too. Some of my Uk colleagues I could quite easily ignore!
Maybe some of your UK colleagues think you’re a twat as well. Just wondered why you had to mention that
It’s the inference. Like it’s only brits that are tits. Which isn’t the case. Twats come in all nationalities and shades. As do the good guys
I’m sure they do, bit of an aggressive response tho eh? However, I didn’t say they were twats, I just can easily ignore them, like I can do with quite a few people tbh.
It wasn’t written or meant like that. Some of the Dutch guys I’m not keen on either, as they’re no doubt not keen on me! Also, a couple of my UK colleagues have been friends for almost 30 years as I’ve worked with them before. You’re right tho, twats come from all nationalities and shapes and sizes!
In the summer after leaving school, the fella across the street took me on in his building/roofing business. No travel or meal costs (he supplied all) and the offer of a full apprenticeship had me heading towards sticking with it and becoming a stonemason in the future. After a few months, I was contacted out of the blue by my dad's uncle, who I had only met maybe half a dozen times in my life. He was offering the chance to interview for a fully sponsored merchant navy engineer apprenticeship. My grandad had worked the shipyards all his life, and my dad (who had died when I was 10) had been a fitter before moving into production management. A life of machinery and oil seemed more attractive than stone, so off I went. Qualified as a 4th engineer on bulk carriers in the late 80s, travelling the world bringing coal and iron ore back to the UK for British Steel. Got made redundant. Spent a short while as a fitter in the shipyards on the tyne to pay the bills then headed back to sea. This time working on offshore support vessels out of Aberdeen. Kept studying and got my second engineer's ticket in 93 and started company hopping to follow the cash. Late 94 settled with Maersk on the anchor handling boats and was off travelling the world again. Got my chief engineer's ticket in 96 with chief's job coming a few months later. Got clattered by a car in Dec 2006 while on the bike and spent 18 months in and out of hospital. Maersk looked after me when while on the sick, and when we realised it would be a while longer before I could pass offshore medicals again, I moved into the office as a technical superintendent for the ships I had been working on. This led to me taking a position at head office in Copenhagen in 2012. Decided to live in Sweden and commute to Denmark for work as bikes were cheaper in Sweden and there was a great trackday/race scene. Moved through a few tech job variations involving drydocking, project management and ship modification roles before becoming the machinery specialist for the whole company. Anything that was causing problems that the normal support departments couldn't sort ended up on my desk. Engines, pumps, thrusters, gearboxes, propellers etc etc all mine to troubleshoot, rectify, modify. Took redundancy after just under 23 yrs. Spent a couple of yrs spunking the money on tracking and endurance racing in Sweden and Norway. Got bored in the long winters when the track stuff stops between Sept and April, so started working for a mates bike dealership, spannering on everything from chinese mopeds and harleys to full blown track and race bikes. Forced back to Uk after 7 yrs in Sweden by Brexit due to the limitations in the job market. The uncertainty of what a Brit expat's status would be for employers, taxation etc when the dust finally settled, killed all proper work channels. Set up as a self employed maritime technical consultant at the beginning of 2020 and got one nice 3 week contract in Rio early in the year. Covid hit and I've not worked since................
What a fantastic and interesting career! I hope things pick up for you post Covid I met a fella in the hotel bar in 2012 when I was working in Singapore, he offered me a job as an electrical engineer on a ship paying £90K per year tax free! I turned it down best cause it was months away and at sea all the time which I would never have coped with. The £90K wouldve been nice tho, I could’ve bought a Ducati earlier
To be fair, when I started out on the bulk carriers it was hard. Not royal navy hard, but 5 months on the ship at a time with 2 months off. The offshore side of the business wasn't too bad, normally 7 weeks on/off when foreign based and 5/5 if UK ports. You just had to make sure you did more than 183 days out of UK each 12m period to stay tax free, which I managed for over 20 yrs (hence the never ending Ducati habit). The shoreside work has been worse, with months spent in dry docks in Africa etc working 14 hrs a day 7 days a week, then straight back to graft when returning to the office. No overtime payment, no time in lieu. Had some great experiences over the years though. Involved in some record book rig tows such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernia_oil_field and laying of major pipelines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream as well as building a couple of boats, then commissioning and sailing them into work.
At school all i wanted to do was join the Royal navy.. My Grades were good enough etc, sadly because of a happening at 14 i couldn’t consider such a career anymore, probably the worst environment for someone of such damage, but, still wish today that i could have joined up.. My Art teacher pushed me to go to further education on leaving school but there was no way i could consider it as my parents needed me to work. i had done lots of Holiday work etc plus weekends etc from a young age and got into MX, I was lucky to be good enough to gain sponsors so then moved to racing Zip Rotax karts and once more did well enough to get a test in Formula Ford, I then got a drive in F Ford for 2 seasons and it was suggested for me to go to F3 but the cost was crazy and we just couldn’t get the sponsor money together.. i had picked up an apprenticeship to be a MV technician this i completed (6 yrs) but hated the actual job so quit in about 84 and applied and got in to the Royal College of Art and Photography paying my own way.. Next got a job as a Magazine Photographer with 23 Mag titles to supply for, was great in the film days but when camera phones arrived i could see where we were heading and got out.. in the middle of all this as well documented before i somehow created Children’s characters to appease my then young Son, wrote 6 books and depicted the Characters etc, after releasing them to a few London Publishers the phone was red hot with calls from the BBC and JCB etc on a TV series and the like, but just as soon as it had started, it then stopped, A certain Mr Chapman and team had stolen the idea from my drafts and had already began creating Bob the b..... He worked for the Jim Henson Corp Muppets etc and we were powerless to fight the cause really.. A few years later on BBC morning TV Mr Chapman admitted how B the B had not come from an idea behind a builder but that he had seen a yellow digger working in a field and the characters cane from there, these were almost the exact words that were written on my synopsis all those years previously.. It took so much out of me that i ended up losing my job after having a huge breakdown .. I then ended up as a crane driver at Britain’s largest Port which is now about to end on health grounds ... X
I’m told I’m always to nosey and ask too many questions..... works well in my role as Technical Sales. I’m loving this post, I’m fascinated by people’s history and their route to where they are now, keep the stories coming.
