drain TRADER
A UKSTT Award dinner with Fred Dibnah as the guest speaker
A career highlight for Martin receiving a Special Recognition award at
Severn Trent, nominated and voted for by colleagues in the workforce, with CEO Liv Garfield and compère Steve Witter and Malcolm Horne.
whatever the task or challenge. I have a curious mind and have always sought to understand how things work and to think about what we could do to improve. I love leading teams of people but I am equally adept at playing a supportive role when required. I have shown tomyself time and again that if you have the right mind set and create the right team around you then great things can happen. I see this award as recognition for the dedication and delivery of many teams I have created and worked with along the way. I have also had unwavering support frommy wife Sheila who has been alongside me from the start. Finally it would have been great formy parents to have been around to share this moment but sadly that is not to be.
When did you start at Severn Trent?
Severn TrentWater (STW) Authority was formed in late 1974 by bringing together the water and sewerage functions of the local authorities in theMidlands. I was working outside the region andmy job was heading for ThamesWater. I was the first external recruit into the STWdivisional office at Coventry in a team specialising in the design and build of sewage treatment plants. I did not know much about the Water Industry but the location in the Midlands suited us at that time. The original intention was to do a couple of years and then move on. However, I loved the Company and the work and we quickly settled in to living in Kenilworth so we stayed!
Having spent your career in the UK Water industry what have for you been the most significant changes that have witnessed across your career?
In short, mobility and technology. In the 1970’s the road system was quite rudimentary such that if you wanted to visit Strensham from Coventry it normally included an overnight stay. People from different divisions within Severn Trent rarely met as it took too long to get from A to B. We operated from local depots and many in theworkforce did not own cars. The road system is so much better now.
Martin at a UKSTT dinner he hosted, with Mick Ryan from Severn Trent and England Rugby player Gareth Chilcottwho was guest speaker.
Computers and phones did not exist and the internet had not been contemplated. You got knowledge from books, information from magazines and communicated by letter. You had a choice of four TV channels and if you did not watch a programme that night you had no way of catching up until repeats came round some time later. The ease with which information can be found and shared is the single biggest change. That said, I will not miss endless complex passwords that I cannot remember. Overall, it is much faster and definitely more stressful now.
Martin during a visit from the Hong Kong water department in a site display caravan where customers can speak with the site team and see ‘before and after’ pipes.
20 drain TRADER | September 2020 |
www.draintraderltd.com
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