Technical Expertise with a Customer‑First Approach

Above image show Ken receiving his award.

The young Ken left school at 16 and started his career with a mechanical engineering apprenticeship in metal foundries, a sector which has now largely vanished from the UK manufacturing landscape. During his apprenticeship Ken studied for an HND in Mechanical and Production Engineering on day-release. After a period in automative engineering, Ken moved into the water sector some 25 years ago, initially as a proposals engineer:

‘I initially worked on preparing proposals for the surge protection of pipelines. It was a really interesting role as you had to understand both the technical aspects of the job you were bidding on, as well as the contractual side of things.

Images above show site engineers and divers on the Queen Mother Reservoir, near Heathrow, to install a penstock 24 meters below the surface. Read the full story here.

Over the past decade I have increasingly focussed on the maintenance, installation and commissioning of large diameter valves on dam and reservoir projects. I love my job!’

Ken thought the Expect Awards event was ‘spectacular’:

‘It was an honour for the work we do at Glenfield Invicta to be recognised. Although it is my name on the Award, I would like to emphasize the teamwork that goes into delivering successful engineering projects. In particular, I take great pride in playing a small part in the development of the next generation of Glenfield Invicta engineers.’

For those of us who follow Ken online there is good news. Father Christmas bought him a DJI Mini 4 Pro drone!

Read more about the Expect 2026 Awards here and see a list of all the winners from across AVK in the UK.