IHEEM PRESIDENT INTERVIEW


supply at regional hospitals there as a gesture of UK government support. The cargo on the massive Antonov An-124 plane that took them from Belfast International Airport to Delhi on 7 May 2021 also included 1,000 British-made CPAP systems. While this project alone may not have been solely responsible for Nigel subsequently receiving an OBE for Public Services to Health – which he received proudly from King Charles at Windsor Castle on 14 February 2023– it seems certain it had a hand. It became clear during our discussion, indeed, that ‘problem-solving’ has always been an aspect of engineering that appeals to the new IHEEM President, but – as he explained – he also had engineering in his blood.


Apprenticeship at famous shipbuilder He said: “I first got into the engineering through an electrical apprenticeship at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, the famous shipbuilder and marine engineer, starting work there in 1977 aged 16, after completing my ’O’ Levels in Lisburn. My grandfather, father, and an uncle were all electrical engineers. I went on to become a technician, before joining Harland and Wolff’s management programme. We were manufacturing engineering components for ships and heavy industry – including – in the latter case – large generator halls, such as the ones at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital and Belfast City Hospital, where we supplied the HV switchgear, generators, and control panels, assembling, commissioning, and subsequently maintaining them.” Nigel Keery spent 11 years at Harland and Wolff, becoming manager of the electrical test house there. I imagined that given the company’s engineering pedigree, even securing an initial apprenticeship must have been an achievement. He said: “I believe the company only took on about 10 electrical apprentices annually – from hundreds of applicants. You had to do aptitude test, and go to college and get your ONC, followed by an HNC, during the apprenticeship.” He recalled that on visiting ‘Belfast Tech’ (or College of


Technology) – as it was then known colloquially – as part of his studies, he would admire the stained glass window of the Kelvin Memorial, and ‘try and get a bit of inspiration from Lord Kelvin’, a pioneer of electrical science. The Irish-born British mathematician, mathematical physicist, and engineer, was born in Belfast, and was Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years. There he undertook significant research and mathematical analysis of electricity, was instrumental in the formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and contributed significantly to unifying physics, then in its infancy as an emerging academic discipline. Nigel Keery is in no doubt that his own engineering


prowess, and indeed his early interest in the subject, stemmed from his male forebears. He explained. “Like


me, they all started their careers working at Harland and Wolff, before joining other businesses and consultancies. My father, Glen, for instance, worked for Honeywell for a while, and various design consultancies. My apprenticeship provided a first-class electrical engineering training. My father had always been very good with his hands, creating solutions and at explaining how things worked. At our house, he was always restoring a tractor, a car, or a piece of equipment. He was extremely gifted at fixing and making things.” Nigel’s family lived at the time in Dromore, about 18


miles from Belfast. He explained: “Rather than catching a bus at 5.00 am every day to travel in to work, I ended up staying in Belfast in Harland and Wolff accommodation. The company was thus effectively my guardian, because I started at 16, and living nearby afforded me some fantastic opportunities – because you were always in, or near, the factory. If there was anything special happening, you were usually invited – for example to ship launches, and events with dignitaries visiting. They also had a restaurant offering unbelievable dining for customers. I thus saw, or met, many people I certainly wouldn’t have encountered had I gone home each night.”


The Westland ‘affair’ One visitor who made an impression, in the mid-1980s, was Lord Heseltine, the Defence Secretary in a Margaret Thatcher-led Conservative government. The two political heavyweights clashed publicly over a proposed rescue bid for Britain’s last helicopter manufacturer, Westland Helicopters. The Prime Minister, and her Industry Secretary, Leon Brittan, were keen to see the business merge with America’s Sikorsky, but Michael Heseltine favoured a European deal, integrating Westland with a consortium that included British Aerospace (BAe), Italian (Agusta), and French companies. Nigel Keery added: “I also remember Aristotle Onassis, the Greek / Argentine business magnate who amassed the world’s largest privately-owned shipping fleet, and for whom we built several ships, visiting the shipyard, while a number of Royals attended on different occasions to launch ships. The Harland and Wolff site, close to Belfast’s docks, housed many huge warehouses and shipbuilding halls – including some so big they had their own climate; you could sometimes have mist or fog inside from the sea. The business still operates today – both as a ship designer and manufacturer, and as a producer of ‘one off’ and quite challenging-to-produce vessels, such as those used in the offshore wind, ocean exploration, and petrochemical sectors.”


Above right: The massive Antonov An-124 plane that took three of the oxygen concentrators from Belfast International Airport to Delhi on 7 May 2021 also transported 1,000 British-made CPAP systems.


Above: Nigel Keery gives the cargo on the Antonov a final check over before the plane departs Belfast for India with the concentrators on board.


Below: On visiting ‘Belfast Tech’ (or College of Technology) – as it was then known colloquially – as part of his studies, Nigel Keery would admire the stained glass window of the Kelvin Memorial, and ‘try and get a bit of inspiration from Lord Kelvin’, a pioneer of electrical science.


November 2024 Health Estate Journal 25


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