Meet Ben, Electrical Engineer
It’s National Apprenticeship Week, and we wanted to showcase a few individuals based at ABP Southampton to highlight the ABP Apprenticeship Programme and promote their careers within the company.
Meet Ben; he has worked at ABP in Southampton since 2012, starting as an Electrical Engineering apprentice; since then, he has progressed through the company and delivered large-scale electrical projects, including ones to support our twin mission – Enabling the Energy Transition. Here we find out more about Ben and his development as an apprentice, which supports him in his role today!
When did you start at ABP?
“I began my apprenticeship in 2012 with the Maintenance Team and completed a four-year programme in electrical engineering. During this time, I quickly learned how to maintain cranes, airbridges, develop my skills as an electrician and conduct inspections. After qualifying, I was keen to continue my education and take on additional responsibilities. I became curious about the various systems throughout the port that needed support, as well as the design of new systems. As a result, I completed my Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Electrical Engineering and became a qualified electrician.”
Once qualified, what did you do next?
“I spent some time gaining more experience as an electrician before moving from the Electrical Maintenance team to the Maintenance Contracts team, where I was responsible for managing contracts for maintaining lifts, escalators, and heating and air conditioning at our cruise terminals. I was in this role for two years, during which I also completed statutory inspections.”
“I always had a role in mind and knew where I wanted to get to within ABP, so my next move was as an Electrical Engineer delivering Electrical Projects. I started in this role in 2019, and I am still here, delivering the most interesting projects, including installing and maintaining solar panels and electric vehicle chargers across the port, and working on energy-efficient schemes such as LED light replacement and optimising the building maintenance systems at Horizon Cruise Terminal.”
What does an average day look like for you?
“I am always out and about, so I rarely have an average day. This morning, I was over at ABP Solent Gateway to kick-start a new project in support of the phased development work; I enjoy working with lots of different people based at the two ports. On-site, I often complete safety inspections, job inspections and pre-start meetings. When I am office-based, I pull together specifications in preparation for a new project, which will be used to go out to tender by a 3rd party company, or I spend my time reviewing drawings, Operation & Maintenance plans, and electrical installation certificates.”
What’s the best part of your job?
“I love being out and about and having diverse projects and tasks to work on. There is always something new to work on, and I am constantly learning on the job. Part of the job includes managing the low-voltage electrical network across the whole port for ABP and our customers based on site. In the rare case of an outage, our team are authorised persons and will be responsible for switching on the LV network to re-energise power to buildings and assets, I enjoy having that responsibility.”
What are some of the challenges you have experienced?
“Working around the operations can be a challenge at times. We have 3 million cruise passengers through the port, support 1 million containers coming in and out of the port and over 500,000 cars for import and export – that’s a lot of operations! Not to mention the MOD operations we support at ABP Solent Gateway. We must work around this to deliver our electrical projects to ensure the port can still operate and support our journey to net zero through our energy-efficient projects.”
What have been the opportunities for you?
“Development! There is always the opportunity to learn and progress and go on a course to keep up with the changes in electrical engineering. My biggest advice is not to sit still, ask questions, and be curious, and you will achieve and reach the job you want to be doing.”
