The Team

Having joined Playfords in 2010 as Project Manager I have progressed within the company through numerous roles, joining the board of directors in 2018 as Contracts Director. My role was expanded to Commercial Director in January 2019 during which time I led a management buyout of Playfords with Andy Downing, completing this in January 2021 and taking on the role of Managing Director.

With the completion of the management buyout, I now lead my fellow board members establishing ways to further develop the company and its capabilities within the industry, as well as continuing the growth of our operations within our regional office locations – Huntingdon and London.

Playing an active role in all aspects of the business I can regularly be found walking our sites, working with the team and getting directly involved with our clients and supply chain.

Leading Playfords into the future I have ambitions to develop Playfords into a leading player within the electrical & mechanical sector and look forward to developing the team further within Playfords to achieve this. I will take great pride in being at the forefront of the business as we celebrate our 100th Anniversary in 2025.

Joining the company in 1982 I commenced work as an Apprentice Electrician. Following the completion of my apprenticeship I progressed through many job roles with the company, Electrician, Approved Electrician, Technician, Project Manager, Contracts Manager before being appointed to the board of directors in January 2018. In January 2019 I became Operations Director.

In January 2021 I was part of a management buyout of Playfords and became Group Operations Director.

I hold certification in Electrical Engineering and have kept up to date with accreditation to the current 18th Edition IEE Wiring Regulations BS7671, I have also specialised in Data Communications, gaining qualifications in Category 5/6 cabling solutions, Fibre Optic systems and Structured Cabling design. 

Alongside our electrical and data cabling installation deliveries I have been responsible for managing mechanical delivery overseeing large air conditioning, heating, plumbing and ventilation project installations delivered by our supply chain partners.

To ensure our clients are afforded the expertise and service levels required I hold many industry standard accreditations including Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) Managing Safely and IOSH Safety for Executives & Directors.

I have worked for Playfords since 1998, initially as Assistant Accountant. After the takeover by Hedley Solutions in 2006 I became Accounts Manager and then Finance Director in 2007.

Having worked closely with the board, overseeing the financial growth of the company from 2007 onwards and subsequently the merger with Hedley Solutions in 2014, I now have full responsibility for the accounts team and overall responsibility for the company’s financial reporting. Away from the office I have a keen interest in ancient archaeology.

I joined Playfords in July 2007 as an apprentice electrician and worked across a number of different projects gaining valuable engineering knowledge and experience, which afforded me the opportunity to be awarded two Regional Apprentice of the Year awards via the ECA and JTL the training provider. This in turn led on to receiving a 3rd place award in the National Apprentice of the Year awards by JTL.

Playfords showed, via my training, that they can offer individuals great opportunities within the industry and I have gone on to be involved in several larger projects during my time as an electrician and site supervisor, gaining further experience across a broad spectrum of electrical engineering. I transitioned into a more office-based role as a Project Engineer in 2016, working closely with our site-based teams and clients to ensure project works meet expectation and are delivered on budget. These project works are varied but not limited to school new builds and extensions, office fit outs, warehouse fit outs and NHS electrical infrastructure upgrades. This led to a further promotion to Project Manager in 2017 taking on some more varied/larger projects over the next few years including a large commercial refurbishment/extension project on a shopping centre.

In April 2023 I received a promotion to Senior Contracts Manager joining the Senior Management Team at Playfords which has been an exciting opportunity to be a part of, shaping the company going forwards and assisting to deliver projects to our clients to a high standard along with assisting the rest of the management team in day-to-day operations. This has since led to being appointed to the board of directors as a Contracts Director in January 2024.

With many years in the industry and a passion for engineering, I enjoy nothing more than finding a solution to a problem and looking for ways to streamline deliveries. I’ve vast experience in delivering projects within varying commercial and industrial settings; I’ve come across and overcome a wide range of challenges.

Leading experienced project teams across large complex projects, I work with the team taking the project from inception, through the delivery process to handover, with full E2E control. The team are comfortable reviewing designs, developing engineering strategies to deliver and improve on programme and budgets and have a keen eye for detail.

I consider team work to be the backbone of success and look to develop a strong team culture. I focus my management style on strong leadership and bringing the best out of everyone I work with. Driven to exceed client expectation; I look to ensure we are delivering the best product we can for our clients, while maintaining programme and budget for the project. My ability to communicate at all levels, along with being able to react to situations that may arise and deal with them in a calm and controlled manner allows me to build relationships quickly and deliver a successful result.

I predominantly serve our clients based in the south of England, from our London Fleet Street office. The team are highly experienced in the delivery of HV & LV infrastructure projects, including but not limited to HV Supply including switchgear & transformer replacement/installation, LV Switchgear replacements/installations, HV & LV Generation & UPS installations (N+1, N+2) and specialist hospital infrastructure such as IPS systems.

Our workstreams are not limited to infrastructure, so whatever your requirements (small power, lighting, data installations including fibre optic) I will be able to assist.

Having retired in 2021, I am delighted to be invited back to Playfords Ltd and being involved in the company under a new role as Non-Executive Director.

I have been in the electrical contracting industry all my working life. Starting my career as an electrical apprentice with the London Electricity Board I quickly progressed from apprentice, approved electrician, supervisor to project management, gaining valuable experience of a diverse range of projects along the way, and expanded my knowledge of mechanical services working for multi-disciplinary companies. This involved working with some of the larger M&E companies in the country again gaining valuable experiences of contract management and mechanical services.

My last position started in 1997 where I became managing director of Hedley solutions, this progressed through to a management buy-out of the company in 2000 and subsequent acquisition of Playfords in 2006 then followed by the merger of the two organisations in 2014. A path that secured growth and security for both organisations. Having served in my last position for 24 years I felt it was time to hand over the reins to new blood to continue the growth and success of the company.

In my retirement I have caught up on lots of time with my family and now feel able to take on this new role where I can bring over 50 years of experience in both the engineering and administration aspects of the industry and look forward to passing on this knowledge to the current board of directors and provide ongoing support to the growth and development of the company.

Outside of work I enjoy most sports, more today as a spectator than a competitor, but have been known to swing at the odd golf club.