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Who has been the most influential person in your life professionally? When embedded within a large-scale operational team for the first time, the then Operations Manager, John Robertson, taught me an incredible amount. His knowledge was unrivalled and was spread across technical, commercial & contractual delivery. I was privileged to be taken under his wing. His patience in helping me see the whole board and how pieces of the puzzle were inextricably linked were lessons that remain with me today.
Over the next 10 years, what changes would you like to see in the energy sector with respect to D&I? Leadership and culture changes are essential in pursuing genuine diversity and inclusion improvements. Positive examples of this can include implementing more flexible working arrangements - including a true understanding of the importance of work-life balance. However, this cannot just be seen as a top-down piece. As a single example, today, 65% of the UKCS workforce are working within technical disciplines. 16% of graduates in these disciplines are women. We need to be changing the perception dial when it comes to working with our sector, which is something every one of us is responsible for.
Given the experience you have now, what advice would you give a graduate just starting his career in the Energy sector? It would be remiss of me to not reflect on what the most influential person in my life professionally taught me! Try to see the whole board. The most content & successful people I see in any organisation strive to educate themselves on as many areas as possible technically, commercially & contractually. Speak to your colleagues & consider how business areas work together, focusing on the magic triangle of cost, time and quality. If you see ways of improving things, share your thoughts. Trust me – it makes your day-to-day a lot more exciting.
If you were inviting guests to a dinner party, which 3 people would you invite and why? Julia Louis-Dreyfus – my wife and I love a good box set, and Veep remains a show we can go back to time and time again. Out with the big screen, Julia is renowned as someone with an incredible sense of humour and is very active domestically looking at universal healthcare & environmental issues. David Attenborough – likely self-explanatory, but what a fascinating & intelligent person he would be to speak to. Our family are animal lovers and are never happier spending time with our cocker spaniel and making sure he has the time of his life. Mr Attenborough brings nature closer to everyone, and that’s an incredible thing. Barack Obama – I have always had an interest in American politics and the state-by-state complexities that the landscape generates. As the first black president and an ex-teacher of constitutional law, President Obama would be fascinating to talk to.
AFC Women’s Team Partners Back Move to Semi Professional Status Following the news earlier this year of the Club’s historic move to become a semiprofessional team, AFC Women’s team partners have thrown their support behind this significant milestone. The announcement marked an important phase of a strategic plan for AFC Women, which combined with other areas of new investment, is going to provide an excellent foundation for the team to continue to build and challenge in SWPL1 in future years. These positive developments would not have been possible without the continued support of AFC Women’s title partner, Boskalis, and our other partners, Tendeka and GAC, all of whom have shared in the vision of the team’s development as the Club looks to not only produce a winning team but also to develop women’s football further. Stuart Cameron, Managing Director Boskalis Subsea, is thrilled to see semi-professional status come to fruition having been a proud supporter of AFC Women for over four years. He said: “Having been there from the start of the journey in 2018 as the main sponsor of the AFC Women it’s fantastic to see the Club now able to provide this next step for the growth of woman’s football in the North-East. “Over the past four years we have watched the players grow as individuals and as a team, supporting them as they have progressed through the leagues and everyone at Boskalis is very proud of the whole team and congratulates Jess Broadrick, Bayley Hutchison, Francesca Ogilvie, Eilidh Shore and Eva Thomson on the signature of their new semi-professional contracts.”
Herman Jorgensen, Managing Director, GAC UK, added: “AFC Women going semi-pro with their league progression sends a powerful message that women mean business in every field. That is also at the heart of GAC UK’s business philosophy, underlined by our charter membership to Maritime UK’s Diversity in Maritime and our pledge to support and encourage a more diverse working culture. “We look forward to cheering on AFC Women as proud sponsors and we are sure they will do the Aberdeen community proud.” Tendeka, who became an AFC Women partner in 2021, are excited to see the growth of the Women’s game as CEO of Tendeka, Brad Baker, said: “As a proud sponsor of AFC Women’s team our goal, like AFC, is not only about giving young girls in the North-east and beyond the chance to fulfil their dreams of becoming professional footballers, but to give back to and support our community with a top-notch team and product for all to come root for and be proud of. “Congratulations to the AFC Woman’s team for this exciting milestone on that journey.” AFC Women’s partners, Boskalis, GAC and Tendeka, celebrated the breakthrough moment with a “Fair Play For All” event at Cormack Park which saw all three host an inclusive, football led community event, focusing on primary school aged children from areas of social deprivation. The youngsters, who were transported to Cormack Park courtesy of Club partner Central Coaches, got to enjoy unique coaching sessions and STEM activities, experiencing a day that engaged and educated through fun and teamwork, before having the opportunity to meet some AFC Women’s players.
