Thornhill’s Stephen Hanman is celebrating after clocking up an impressive 40 years of service in the gas industry.
Stephen, who works for gas emergency and pipeline service Wales & West Utilities, left school at 16 determined to follow a practical career path. After applying for many apprenticeship schemes he found himself in the fortunate position of being offered seven opportunities but he decided to join the gas industry.
Since then he has taken advantage of the opportunities he’s received, working in different engineering roles across South Wales. Since 2008 he has been Wales & West Utilities Operations Commercial Manager based in the company’s head office in Newport, where his role includes managing the company’s metering and smart metering contracts.
Stephen said:
“I am delighted to have clocked up 40 years of service in the industry and have enjoyed the diversity of roles I have worked hard to achieve. Looking back the industry has changed so much but we are as committed as ever to make sure the 7.5million people we serve continue to receive a safe and reliable gas supply, while delivering the outstanding levels of service our customers expect.
“Forty years is a long career but I still enjoy it as much as I ever did – and I’m not ready to give up just yet!”
Andrew Hopkins, Wales & West Utilities Director of Operations, added:
“We’d like to congratulate Stephen on achieving this significant career milestone. After years of working in operations and now in our head office, he has a huge amount of knowledge on the operation of the gas network and continues to play a vital role in the work we do. We’re proud of Stephen and his work and would like to thank him for his continued hard work.”
Wales & West Utilities was recently re-accredited by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) as achieving its ServiceMark with Distinction. The company has successfully demonstrated meeting the demanding national customer service standard, scoring considerably higher than the utility sector benchmark and more than sector leading companies like Amazon and John Lewis.
The company has recently won its fourth consecutive gold award at the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards 2017 and is also the first gas network to have been recognised for meeting requirements, in line with the exacting British Standard 18477, for its work to help the most vulnerable.
Wales & West Utilities has a team of more than 1000 trained and experienced engineers to help serve the 7.5m people across the south west of England and Wales that rely on its gas emergency and pipeline services. If anyone smells gas, thinks they have a gas leak, or suspects carbon monoxide poisoning, they should call us on 0800 111 999 and our engineers will be there to help, day or night.
Our team is also working on a multi-million pound, 30-year gas pipe investment programme which began in 2002. Old metal pipes within 30 metres of buildings are being upgraded to new long-lasting plastic pipes with a lifespan of more than 80 years, to make sure homes and businesses continue to receive a safe and reliable gas supply now and in the future.