IN THE HOT SEAT
Steve Gill
How did you get into the industry? By chance. I was working for a railway track switches and crossings manufacturer, a real old fashioned heavy engineering environment, but the company was coming to the end of its long life and all the staff were on a three-day week. So, I went along to enrol on a government aided training scheme in computer programming course, however the course was full. Thankfully the training adviser said: “Well, we do have another course that has spaces. It is in refrigeration.”
I was interviewed by Dave Buchanan of Star Refrigeration later that day. I remember him really selling the industry to me. From knowing nothing about the industry when I went in, I remember coming away very excited about the prospect of joining such a dynamic industry and looking forward to the course, which was a year- long full time one.
What is your biggest achievement to date? That is really very difficult to say because I tend to look ahead rather than back, so the quick answer is that I always hope that my next achievement will be my biggest.
I have been involved in many innovative and technically challenging projects over the years. A few were considered pioneering in their own way as at the time I was an early advocate of reducing energy consumption and environmental impact of the designs.
Helping others succeed in their own careers is perhaps my most satisfying achievement. I have been fortunate to have been able to help several people with their career development, and it is very rewarding to see them doing well today, with some holding senior positions in the industry. I have also enjoyed success with several industry initiatives such as broadening the membership grades of the IOR to include Technicians, and then there was the industry
34 September 2017
awareness poster (or meme) campaign a few years ago which won awards around the world, including an ACR News one.
More recently, I have been thrilled to have seen the launch of the Women in RACHP network, and also ‘Cool Mentoring’, the industry-wide mentoring scheme. It really is a wonderful feeling to imagine something, and then see it actually come to fruition.
But as I said, I tend to look forward rather than back, so hopefully, my biggest achievement is still yet to come. I am currently trying to gain support for a World RACHP day, so maybe that will be my biggest achievement, or I am working on a food production facility with a client’s brief to be energy neutral, so may be that.
What do you personally most enjoy about working in the industry?
The variety, the travel, the people, and the challenges. No two days are the same. It is a global industry and I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to live and work in a large number of countries, including long periods in China, Singapore and Thailand. I can’t think of many industries that would offer the same opportunities.
What is the best aspect of the industry generally? That has to be the people. We have many extremely talented people who are problem solvers by nature working in this industry who are equally modest as well. They quietly get on with contributing to modern life and society in a very unassuming way; isn’t that wonderful? Not only that, but thankfully this industry has its share of those exceptional people who contribute by helping develop skills of future generations through training or mentoring, or by volunteering for industry causes. We don’t do enough to recognise the impact that these people have on the future of this industry.
Of Stephen Gill Associates.
What do you personally most dislike about the industry?
The lack of recognition for what our industry does and the skills involved and also – contrary to what I said earlier – some of the people. Perhaps it is because we tend to be problem solvers, or may be for other reasons, but there are certainly some people in the industry that only see problems and are quite negative.
Thankfully, these are few and far between, but they are definitely present. They are always quick to point out what they think is wrong with the industry but rarely contribute to a solution. For example, I often hear employers complain about an industry skills shortage and they are simply unable to recruit staff of the right quality, but when I ask them about their training schemes or apprentices, they confess that they stopped training apprentices themselves some years ago. You are part of the problem or part of the solution, and too many are part of the problem.
What is the worst aspect of the industry generally? There is far more good than bad about this industry, but for me, perhaps the one thing that I find frustrating is the lack of one clear, common, strong, industry voice.
We do have healthy professional and trade associations and this is not intended as a criticism of them, however the industry is so fragmented that in truth, the vast majority of people working within it don’t belong to any association at all, so perhaps don’t feel the need to. This does, whoever, weaken the industry if you compare it with other professions; think of the legal or medical professions for example.
As an industry, we don’t do enough to promote ourselves or our skills. A lot has been said about the need to attract one people into our industry and one way is to highlight the careers and skills of those younger people that have recently joined the industry.
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