As the business grew and our headcount more than doubled I took on the role of operations director to manage our team of skilled engineers and our key clients.I am the technical focal point for the business and I regularly spend time with each of our employees, engaging in technical conversations. I also find myself assisting our engineers with finalising reports for our key clients. Due to my diverse background I can assist in vibration analysis, thermal imaging / thermographic surveys, motion amplification, partial discharge services to name a few. this is a very enjoyable role where I find myself helping drive the business down the right path, but more importantly taking our staff along on the journey!

After handing in my notice I was on the lookout for a new and exciting career, perhaps in the wind industry or power generation? I knew that I wanted to do something unique and different to other companies, so a start-up business was ideal for my situation being less than 30 years old and no kids!After a few months of looking at the job market and deciding what would work best for me I thought I'd join the Ailsa Team as their first engineer. Although this was a risk, Jamie's attitude, out the box thinking and charm I decided to join his new venture as his goals and values perfectly aligned with my own.Since then I haven't looked back and think it was the best decision I have made to date. The days can be long, I may work away from home often but I have never been happier in my career.I find myself working on some of the most challenging and complex faults, both mechanical and electrical every week. Working across a wide variety of industry sectors keeps me on my toes again. One week I may be using a borescope up a wind turbine and the next I might be in the middle of the North sea installing new and advanced monitoring systems. We are continually pushing the boundaries of technologies and we have tried and tested most of the available sensors and systems on the market. Having this industry knowledge has helped us help our clients make the best strategic decisions when moving into the digital world for equipment monitoring.Having a wide variety of skill sets onboard Ailsa can help investigate electrical, mechanical and structural issues in every industry sector with a wealth of knowledge and a strong team to support. Our key focus is to conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCFA / RCA) but we have found ourselves doing the routine work for many clients due to our different approach compared to our competitors.

As my customer base grew, I was also tasked with starting up a small electronics manufacturing facility in Aberdeen to manufacture, test and ship all of the condition monitoring equipment Quartzteq had to offer.During this time I setup a clean environment for building electronics, initially designed on my computer. So seeing it all come together is a very short time and within budget was very satisfying. Setting up the supply chain was also a challenge as we had a very specific bill of materials previously supplied from outside the EU. I was then given a small team of electrical / electronic engineers to train to begin production at the facility. As a team we designed, installed and commissioned a 30KV test bay to allow for FAT testing and R&D for new products.This was all achieved at the same time as dealing with my previous role, manging existing repair and maintenance contracts as well as site based work. As expected this took up too much of my free time and I worked many late nights to ensure I was on target for all departments.When COVID occurred I began thinking about what I wanted to do with my career long term and to perhaps move away from the oil and gas sector as most of my eggs were in that basket.

As my experience grew within the organisation, I was tasked with managing more clients for both onshore and offshore projects. For this reason I was given a new job title and some extra responsibility.I thoroughly enjoyed this job role and the people I worked along side. The job was challenging but very rewarding.I also completed my HND whilst in this role which was a great accomplishment for me. This also freed up my social time which was a massive relief as a large part of time time was spent working and studying.I still found myself working offshore and on site on more complex fault finding and problems solving jobs which kept me on my toes!

After completing my apprenticeship a new job opportunity was pinned up on the canteen wall for a Lead CM Technician. Without hesitation I knew this role was for me and I applied right away, slightly nervous about who else would apply.After a successful interview I started the role the following month and I got stuck in right away looking at new projects and customers. This was all new to me who had previously worked on the tools up until this time.Visiting clients in the office and attending meetings for the first time was a turning point for me who was previously very quiet and reserved. I enjoyed discussing issues and problems with projects that we had to get to the bottom of and come up with different ways to approach some of the tests and inspections.I worked offshore for the majority of the contract when i wasn't in the office. I typically setup a new platforms CM routines and asset lists along side the TA's. I then trained up a colleague to take over my role offshore and then moved onto the next asset.During this time I continued my Electrical & Electronic education and started my HND. This was challenging to study for and work full time but I certainly don't look back

Being my first real job and starting off as an apprentice, this was a whole new experience. Obviously being a young apprentice I was made to go to the stores for a long stand, which the storeman happily told me "no problem son, I'll go get you one of those right away" as he proceeded to go for a smoke break at my expense.As my journeymen / mentors taught me more about the machines and equipment that I was working on I started taking on more responsibility by managing my own jobs and running some of the smaller dry docking teams on vessels I was familiar with. I gained experienced working on sites all over the country including the Royal Navy, power stations, oil refineries, gas refineries, dry docks, offshore oil/gas production platforms and oil and gas support vessels.Workscopes ranged from fault finding, electrical testing, bearing inspection / replacement, complete machine overhauls. I really enjoyed this part the most, not knowing where or what I would be working on every day due to the jobs diversity.During my time in this roll I completed my modern apprenticeship with which included SVQ Level II, SVQ Level III, NC in Engineering and a HNC in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

My first job! in fact it was the first place I walked into with my CV at 16 years old and I was offered a job interview for the following day. If only finding a job these days was this easy!This was a very enjoyable job where I worked with some of the best people I have ever met with a variety of backgrounds and ages. I carried out all the usual tasks from stacking the shelves to serving customers at the tills. I saved my wages up every month to purchase my first car and driving lessons as soon as I turned 17. At this point I had finished my NC in engineering and I decided to apply for a modern apprenticeship to pursue a career in engineering.