My journey began as a wind turbine technician back in 2010, and I was immediately captivated – not just by the technology, but by the sense of purpose behind it. There’s something incredibly motivating about working in an industry that’s actively shaping a sustainable future. There’s a real sense of community in this space and being part of that collective upward momentum has been hugely gratifying.

Leaving school, I was into outdoor sports: golf, football; anything active. I had a place at university to study sports science, but got cold feet. My second passion had always been engineering; I was always tinkering with things. I am interested in understanding how things work, particularly electrical systems.

So, in 2010 I signed up with Siemens Gamesa for its new wind turbine technician apprenticeship, and was shipped off to Newcastle College for training. Soon I was working on turbines from 1.3 MW to 3.6 MW. Many of the people I worked with as an apprentice then are now site managers, supervisors or business owners. After I qualified, I became a maintenance technician, and started travelling all over the UK, for example to the Clyde wind farm and to Greater Gababard, offshore Norfolk, diagnosing faults on various technologies.

I couldn’t have led the team without having developed a varied portfolio of experience. I was good at stepping back and looking at the bigger objective: how to be better, how to progress my career; I was never happy where I was and always had one foot on the next rung up the ladder.

Towards the end of my time on the tools, helicopters became another string to my bow. I spent eight minutes flying out to site, and I was dropped off and winched down on to the turbine, and after 15 minutes I was on to the next one. I do miss that aspect; now I drive to work and sit in the office.

Having spent 10 years living out of a suitcase, I was interested when an opportunity came to go back home while working for Wood. It was at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine. Wood managed the site, which featured a 7 MW Samsung offshore wind turbine, offering me the operations and maintenance site manager role. This was about having good relationships with the client, stakeholders, the site team, and how to make improvements. I was able to draw on my 10 years of best practice, while being able to come home every night.

Next I turned my hand to contract management and structuring the commercial side of business for BayWa.re. It was the first time I focused on contracts, customer relations and procurement.

And then I came to my current firm, Realise Energy Services. What appealed to me about it then was that it was a small company, unlike the big companies I was used to. I wanted to make an impact first-hand. I came in as operations manager and, after only five months, the guys sat me down after lunch and offered me the Operations Director role. It’s been almost three years I’ve been here now.

We went through a management restructure late last year, and now I find myself on the Board of Directors, reporting to investors, part of the Executive Team. Climbing the career ladder doesn’t make the work get any easier. You sit in a position where you don’t get the nice jobs; instead, you have to resolve challenges by the hour.

One of those is sustainable growth. As demand for renewable energy increases, so does the complexity of maintaining high safety standards, grid reliability and long-term asset performance. We’re being asked to scale fast while staying efficient, safe and cost-effective – and that’s no small task.

Another key challenge is talent – specifically attracting and retaining the right people. We need to inspire the next generation of engineers, analysts and leaders to see this industry as not just viable, but vital. That means fostering strong career pathways, investing in training and building inclusive, safe and forward-thinking cultures.

There are two routes into the industry now. We are challenged across the board for a skilled workforce. One way is using third-party, self-employed, short-term contractors. The other is the apprentice route, which is entry-level. They are few and far between, and don’t exist in volume. For that reason, I helped launch an apprenticeship scheme at our company with Dundee and Angus College. We are now in our second year, with two wind turbine technician apprentices.

We are a member of SafetyOn, and see the good work that Technical Manager Emma McIvor and her team do. Its good practice and safety guidance is critical. I attend the stakeholder days. An aspiration of mine is to share the stage at a SafetyOn event, speaking alongside others who I’ve watched for the past 10 years offering improvements and advice to the industry sector.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author only and are not necessarily given or endorsed by or on behalf of the Energy Institute.

• Further reading: ‘Who is going to do the work?’. Skills take the longest to develop but are the most valuable in the whole supply chain. Work to prepare for 2050, the UK’s net zero target, must start now, as the workers who will be in their professional prime by then are still at school. New educational initiatives are starting up nationwide, reports New Energy World Senior Editor Will Dalrymple.
• While the UK’s achievements in building an offshore wind industry are hugely impressive, there’s more to be done to increase both jobs for UK citizens and the number of UK companies in the supply chain. Tim Pick FEI MBE, Chair of the UK Offshore Wind Growth Partnership, former UK Offshore Wind Champion, and Vice-President of the Energy Institute, explains what’s being done.