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When I was in primary school I loved to read and learn about the world we live in and the space in the universe that surrounds us.
My mum and dad encouraged me to get a good education and enter one of the professions. I was good at maths so as I grew older I decided to begin a career in finance. I was the first in my family to go to university and I went on to become a Chartered Accountant which is a great way to learn about and see lots of different types of businesses.
I was lucky to work with clients in many industries including retail, hospitality, construction and transportation but the businesses that I loved working with the most were the engineers where you could see ideas being created on the drawing board then made into real products in the factory to be exported around the world.
I’m an accountant but my education, training and passion for engineering has allowed me to become the CEO of one of the leading engineering companies in the world, where we focus on solving our customers biggest challenges in some of the most difficult places on planet earth and one day it might be on the moon or an asteroid in outer space.
It is a true privilege to have a job where I love every minute of what I do.
What did you want to be when you was at Primary School?
As a young boy all I wanted to do was work in my Dad’s garage. Before and after school I would spend time there helping at the petrol pumps and learning from him.
What does your role at Primary Engineer involve?
To encourage as many youngsters as possible into a career in engineering no matter how deprived their background might be. Allied Vehicles working with Primary Engineer have set up programmes in over 20 local primary schools and our practicing engineers are always willing to assist and support.
At Collingham primary school near Leeds, I was inspired by Thunderbirds – the children’s television programme – fuelling my ambition to be an astronaut. This wasn’t to be but I was fortunate enough to get into Leeds Grammar School. I remember thinking I must have fluked the entrance exam to get in! I worked hard not only in class, but also organising things in school and on the rugby pitch where I developed my passion for teams and team sports.
My dad though, seeing how ‘expert’ I was in taking things apart and putting them back together again with a few bits left over, steered me towards engineering, and I haven’t looked back since. When you think about it, everything we use today, everything that underpins how we live our lives has been designed by engineers.
David leads National Grid’s electricity transmission network business in the UK – the business provides critical and reliable electricity supplies across the country. He is also the group’s Chief Electricity Engineer.
David started his career at National Grid 25 years ago as a young engineer. He has worked on both gas and electricity networks, in the UK and the US, across a range of engineering and leadership roles. He is a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Vice-Chair of CIGRÉ UK, and a dual-accredited Chartered Engineer (IET and IGEM).
Although I loved dancing and music, looking back I can’t imagine what else I could have done except engineering. I loved building things – my favourite toys when I was very young was a huge set of beautiful wooden bricks and I loved making dens in the garden. I really really wanted a set of Lego although I had to make do with Bayco, a sort of kit for building model houses. At school there were huge boxes in the playground with which you could build walls and other structures that I just loved.
I lived near Epping Forest and would spend hours damming streams. I also loved maps and my mother would show us where we were going on an Ordnance Survey map when we were driving somewhere new.
My father mentioned civil engineering to me when I was 14 and when I found out what it was I decided there and then it was what I wanted to do. 50 years on and I still love my work as a civil engineer providing the infrastructure which ensures people have a safe clean supply of water. Although the majority of my work was with UK water companies, I’ve worked all over the world and specialised in the management of water distribution networks. I managed the repair of a pipeline to Sarajevo during the war in Former Yugoslavia and I taught the engineers in Madagascar how to find leaks in their network so that the water saved could provide additional communal taps in the poorer areas. It’s been a demanding but rewarding career which I’d recommend.
I was a bit of a generalist but in particular I loved maths at primary school and found it came very naturally to me. But my love of science too was awakened by a fantastic teacher I had at the age of 10 who intrigued me with exciting experiments. I remember making a large model of a blast furnace, doing some serious woodwork to make life size chess pieces, discovering what happened with magnets and iron filings, and watching our teacher do amazing experiments with mysterious chemicals that we weren’t allowed to touch. It made me want to discover more, but at that point I had no idea it would lead me to a career in chemical engineering in the water industry.
My current role is associate director at Ofwat and I lead a team who are assessing the costs submitted in five-yearly business plans for all the water companies in England and Wales. We review the proposals companies make to improve their service to their customers and the environment and make sure they are efficient costs that customers will be paying in the future. We’re looking at a wide range of proposals from keeping wastewater away from bathing beaches to providing new reservoirs for drinking water. My role is varied and challenging and I really enjoy working on something that is such an essential public service as providing safe drinking water and dealing with wastewater.
Nick Ellins is the Chief Executive of Energy & Utility Skills Group and the National Skills Academy for Power.
Nick found his time at his Primary School in a small village in Bedfordshire as the most stimulating time in his whole education. The Headmaster and teachers were totally dedicated to giving the pupils all the insights and knowledge they possibly could, and were very close to the parents and families. Some are still friends today.
His school days and education eventually led him to just want to be one thing – a professional cyclist! He concluded that sometimes life decides we are going in a very different direction, and Nick enjoys working today to make sure the vital companies that provide all our heat, light, water, power, recycling and safe sanitation, have the safe and skilled workforces they need – now and in the future.
He has over 30 years’ experience in the utility and rail industries, working in a variety of senior management roles across commercial, operational and UK and European policy areas. His previous roles include Deputy Chief Executive of the Consumer Council for Water, Head of Consumer Strategy at Water UK, senior leadership roles in contracting and engineering-based manufacturing, Director of Policy for the Rail Delivery Group strategy body and Director of Policy for the Association of Train Operating Companies.
Nick is a member, and twice past-President of the Institute of Water, a Freeman of the City of London, a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, a Board member of the Federation of Industry Sector Skills & Standards and an Ambassador for Design & Technology.
At primary/junior school I loved to play out, build dens and have adventures roaming in the hills around our house. I loved playing football, running fast, and sledging in the snow that came every year. I used to love making things: Model planes, Lego and Meccano. I liked to invent things and take stuff apart. I was good at Maths but couldn’t spell, and liked to write weird stories. I had a bear called fluffy who went everywhere with me, and we had a cat called Cat!
When I grew up, I did Engineering at University in London and joined National Grid as a designer. Now I’m the Chief Engineer for Ofgem, the Energy Regulator, based in Canary Wharf. We make sure that energy companies look after their customers and don’t overcharge for gas and electricity. We are also trying to help the energy sector become cleaner, burn less fossil fuels, and protect the environment for future generations. My job is to make sure that energy companies make best use of engineering and technology in the wires and pipes that bring electricity and gas into our homes, improving the services they provide to customers.
