Sara Carnduff

Said the following about Garry Andrews:

“Responsible for training and mentoring a third of the UK rail industry’s operational telecoms Person In Charge Of Testing (PICOTs), Garry is passionate about developing individuals to help bridge the skills gap and increase the talent pool to keep our railway running safely and on time. With a career spanning 30 years, starting as a British Rail trainee technician and progressing to become telent’s Operational Communications (Ops Comms) - Engineering Manager, Garry has worked on many high-profile projects across the network, collaborating with both customers and supply chain, gaining a wealth of experience and has become renowned for his rail industry knowledge.

Utilising his knowledge and experience, Garry developed and enhanced the automated ‘self-assessing’ Copper Cable Test Result data collection sheets, creating more accurate results, providing efficiencies and a dashboard to share with the customer to demonstrate progress, a significant contribution to the telecoms discipline!

Joining telent 11 years ago, Garry built the PICOT team through development and mentoring. Setting up a structured training programme and writing the original test documentation, Garry has developed and mentored at least 10 of the 30 current competent operational communications PICOTS in the UK rail industry.

“Garry joined telent when the Test department was in its infancy, but rather than dwell on this, Garry saw this as an opportunity to grow the business using his own past experiences as a catalyst for change. Within a few months the department had recruited 2 new PICOTs (myself included) under the mentorship of Garry. Each new recruit needed guidance and support and without doubt, Garry was the man for the job.” Andrew Massey, Project Engineer – telent.

“Garry has helped to develop my abilities & confidence as a PICOT, he has a very keen eye for identifying potential in people and knowing when to coach and when to teach. He has encouraged my progression within the department and because of this, I have almost certainly achieved more than I would otherwise. I know he has done the same for others in the past, taking them from trainees to fully fledged PICOTs.” Chris Holgate, Lead Engineer-Testing & Commissioning – telent.

As part of the original testing documentation production, Garry developed and enhanced the telent ‘self-assessing copper cable test result data collection sheets’. Utilising his knowledge and experience, Garry streamlined the copper cable test process, developing the automated data collection sheets which provided more accurate results, creating safer testing results and produced a dashboard to be able to share the output with the customer as an easily understandable overview, creating a collaborative tool enabling both time and cost efficiencies.

“The copper tests sheets are an invaluable tool which I have used myself as a tester and I have issued to others to use on projects. They are cleverly written and the formulas within can prevent the input of results which are “too good to be true” which is of real benefit.

They make the life of the testers and anyone reviewing test results much easier as they can be filled out on-site, any problems are highlighted quickly, expediting any failure investigations before commissioning.

They free up valuable PICOT time with respect to assessing and endorsing test results.” Chris Holgate, Lead Engineer-Testing & Commissioning – telent.

Having established a renowned PICOT mentoring programme and team, Garry went on to lead the telent ops comms team, responsible for designers, project engineers and PICOTs working across 30 live projects. Utilising his knowledge, experience and passion for developing others, Garry works with his team, acting as the ‘glue’ to ensure they understand how the engineering functions work together, appreciate the wider discipline, helping them become more rounded in their approach to deliver more successful outcomes.

“I joined Garry's team at telent two years ago with only consultancy design experience. Garry outlined my progression clearly at telent and showed how the diversity of roles at telent would aid me in my development. Fast forward two years and I now have installation design experience, project engineer experience and testing experience.

With Garry’s aid and support I have become an integral part of the team and company. As I continue my development I know I have the continuous support of my line manager.” Alex Higham, System Design Engineer – telent.

During Garry’s 30-year career, he has worked on a significant number of projects including the West Coast Main Line, Heathrow Terminal 5, Thameslink, Crossrail and most recently Bristol Area Signalling Renewal & Enhancement (BASRE). Collaborating with customers and others in the supply chain, Garry has been instrumental in overcoming the integration and implementation issues associated in combining both legacy and new equipment on the railway, developing and instigating solutions.

“Garry never walks by a problem, instead he’s prepared to roll up his sleeves and offer a solution.” Andrew Massey, Project Engineer – telent.

As well as overcoming integration issues, Garry has been key in the re-planning of works around possessions to accommodate slippages and / or extra scope to meet tight timescales and keep our railway running.

“Garry is an extremely knowledgeable, well-respected and invaluable individual, both within telent and the rail industry. He is committed to the development of others for the sake of improving their careers to benefit the railway, which is a highly admirable characteristic. Garry always goes above and beyond, getting involved and supporting others to achieve the ultimate goal of keeping the railway running safely and smoothly. An asset to the telecoms discipline and the railway and a vital member of the telent team, Garry is a worthy nominee for this year’s Rail Staff Awards Control, Signalling and Telecoms person of the year.” Steve Dalton, Managing Director – Transport, telent.“