Richard Cooper

Said the following about Brian Gibson:

“A Project Delivery Surveyor with experience in excess of 35 years, Brian has maintained an extremely high level of professionalism and quality control throughout his career. After working in industries as diverse as oil, highways and hydrographics in far flung destinations such as Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Edinburgh and his native North East of England, he finally turned to the rail industry in 1984 and has remained within the sector ever since.

Brian first registered on Bridgeway’s radar in 2009 when he was employed to assist with temporary works on the Nexus rail network in Newcastle. It became apparent very quickly that he was a professional and reliable surveyor, capable of undertaking high level complex survey works with a minimum of guidance and a real eye for detail. Fast forward 2 years, and as the Bridgeway Geomatics team began to grow, Brian was the first to be contacted with an offer of a permanent position.

Northern Hub, London Liverpool Street, and Bristol Filton Bank are just a small selection of major projects that Brian has been involved in recently, yet they hardly scratch the surface of a career which takes in 4 decades and a wide variety of survey works including track and topographical surveys, laser scanning, complex survey control networks, setting out and a vast array of other activities.

Yet within these grandiose statements, it is Brian’s key qualities as a person that make him a worthy nominee for the Lifetime Achievement Award. A qualified mathematics teacher, he has the enviable ability to break down complex theories into manageable amounts and excels in tutoring and mentoring younger or less experienced members of the team around him. He provides full technical support and is always happy to spend time and patience to explain matters of both surveying and the railway infrastructure, and instinctively knows just how to develop and encourage the wider team. It is for this reason that Brian is now widely viewed as on of the “go-to” surveyors for advice and support within our department.

It gives me great pleasure to nominate Brian for this award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of the Bridgeway Geomatics team, and also to acknowledge a career based upon decency, dependability and the desire to help and advise others.“