Engineering Shift Manager Tom North has earned an Honours Degree in Engineering after six years of studying around work and family.
He has completed the course with the Open University, working through two modules every year, and over his period of study has got married, had three children and moved house.
Tom joined the company 15 years ago as a caster, spending five years on the shop floor. In 2011, he was selected to join the Senior Leadership Training Program after successfully interviewing and moved into Tank Cell to work as Continuous Improvement Engineer in 2012.
After a year of writing standards for the engineers and working with them, he started to feel that he should have a qualification in engineering and asked the plant manager if there was any potential. The answer was a “yes” and the company has sponsored his degree from start to finish.
Tom said: “My ultimate aim after completing the degree is to gain Chartered Status and to use the knowledge acquired from the modules completed to improve the functionality, safety and quality of all aspects of engineering across the site.
“It’s been six long years and because it’s been distance learning you are doing it on your own, it’s very much self-motivated.
"I’ve had three kids, got married and moved house along the way so it’s quite an achievement!”
Tom’s current job role is now working directly with all aspects of engineering but specifically in the PCB (bowls) and Tank Cell (cisterns).