A coffee with... Graham Ellis - celebrating 30 years’ service

Article posted on: 20 April 2022

Our 'A coffee with...' series takes a glimpse into the thoughts and opinions of our colleagues.

For this edition, we caught up with Graham Ellis as he recently celebrated a significant milestone.

Over to Graham >> 

Congratulations on achieving 30 years’ service. What has been your proudest air-punch moment in your career to date?

This has to be achieving Chartership status. As young engineers know, it marks the end of a long learning and study period and is a time when new horizons can be accessed.

You’ve played a key role in the Altrincham civil and structural team over the last 30 years with a track record in the delivery of large scale complex industrial schemes. What’s been your biggest project highlight, and also the biggest project challenge you’ve come across?

Well, my project highlight has to be our appointment for Lynemouth Power Station. It became a £100m scheme and the first UK coal-fired power station to be fully converted to biomass fuel. After a couple of years of intense design, the day the power station was switched on I had a quiet sense of excitement and relief, it works!

As you can imagine I come across regular project challenges and one challenging project that has been around for nearly two decades is the site for the proposed Piccadilly Hotel in central Manchester. The buildings that currently occupy the site are Grade 2 Listed, therefore working with the developer we have continued a programme of weather proofing and maintenance, plus alterations, to keep pace with the ever-changing retail use of the ground and basement floors. The corner building needed constant work to keep it intact as timber decay spread through year on year. Hardly a year passed without some form of challenging engineering judgement to overcome. After many years of working on the project, I was thrilled when the recent regeneration plans to develop a high-end hotel were approved. It’s great to see the building getting a new lease of life.

What’s your best piece of advice for new starters at the beginning of their career?

I consider developing engineering skills and ongoing CPD as a given. Also, engineering is a career and a key service that engineers must develop is regular and clear communication with clients and looking after their needs. Remember, our clients employ us to look after them, keep them on the right side of the construction regulations, and help develop efficient cost-effective projects. Do that and your career will be fulfilling.

This year also marks a milestone for Clancy as we celebrate 50 years in business. Cast your mind back - can you remember those early days and even your first week at Clancy? Tell us your initial thoughts of the business and the biggest changes you’ve seen.

My first week at Clancy seems like only yesterday. The Manchester office was based on The Downs on the other side of Altrincham and I sat towards the back of the room with little light, a tiny computer screen and a drawing board! Despite the location, the office had a good buoyant atmosphere. There were also many skilled CAD technicians as Clancy was (and still is) leading the way at the forefront of technology, which was something I had not experienced before and found it fascinating and challenging as CAD began taking over engineering design.  

My first project all those years ago was for Alderley Edge based Orbit Developments. The project was a new office block in Handforth, Cheshire. From there I went on to deliver many schemes for Orbit, the flagship being Macclesfield Retail Park.

In my view, the biggest change for the company over the last 30 years was moving to the current office location. Continuous growth after I joined meant that a move became essential. We went from an office capacity of around 25 to 60. The MEP department moved over from Bury making the head office a truly multidiscipline engineering practice. This was a major turning point in the company’s history and the road to achieve the current recognition we have.

And finally, describe your perfect Saturday.  

For me the perfect Saturday is a hot and breezy summers day. I’d enter the long yacht race on the River Mersey from Liverpool out into the Liverpool Bay and back. While it’s a very active and sometimes enduring race, I get back on land feeling recharged from the fresh air and sun. The perfect end to the day is to meet up with our friends and neighbours ‘Come Dine with Me’ group for a BBQ!

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