Are We Nearly There Yet?

Caroline Longman is Account Director for Government at the National Nuclear Laboratory and lives in Oxfordshire with her husband Guy and their three children.

Caroline grew up in Northampton before moving to study physics at Swansea University, being one of only a few girls on the course.

After graduation, Caroline moved to London to join the Medical Research Council doing some work on dizziness. From here, she went to work for her father for a couple of years in insurance. Not satisfied that she was achieving her career goal, Caroline then went on to study a Masters in Radiation and Environmental Protection at Surrey before getting a job with Nuvia as a Radiation Protection Advisor. Caroline then made a move into a Business Development, a role more suited to her personality.

Caroline then took the bold decision to join Government, working in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to support the development of nuclear policy; a role she found extremely interesting with lots of twists and turns! Caroline then applied her experience to work with NNL as an Account Director for Government.

To find out more visit: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/caroline-longman-06031228

David Thomas always wanted to be a pilot. He grew up in Newcastle Upon Tyne and after a successful career with the RAF and the Red Arrows, he now flies 737 with TUI.  He lives with his partner Nikki, their two children Elliott and William. These and Nikki’s other two grown up children Jack and Tom are all a very important part of David’s life. 

From an early age, David was interested in airplanes and had always wanted to fly them. He remembers a holiday in Corfu watching the airplanes land at the airport as a pivotal moment in understanding what he wanted to do. From there, he crafted his education and career around getting to flying airplanes. His focus through school was gearing himself up to join the Royal Air Force after deciding he did not want to go to university.  

After school, David went to RAF Locking as a junior technician for electrical communications for two years. In 1996, he then spent four years training to be a pilot where he got his wings for the Royal Air Force. He learnt to fly Harriers and took great pride in being a NATO asset. As well as his time with the RAF, he also flew with the Red Arrows as a display pilot during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. David decided in 2006 that it was time for more domestic stability, so used his airline license which he’d gained through self-study to get a job with TUI, where is now, as an airline captain.   

In his spare time, David likes to cycle and is a keen photographer. 

For more information visit: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/david-thomas-832a52125 

Claire Hindle is Head of Legal at NNL. She lives in Hale with her husband Pete and two teenage sons along with their Labrador Collie cross, Brook. 

In Claire’s early years, her studies took her to Sheffield University to study music and French something she had a passion for from being young. Early on, Claire recognised this wasn’t the career path she wanted to go down and took the plunge to change to law. A decision she doesn’t regret. Even partaking as chair for the Edward Bramley Law Society. 

Claire’s first job was at Slater Heelis Solicitors as a trainee solicitor before moving to Addleshaw Goddard. From here, she was offered a job with an Entrepreneur and lived life in the fast lane through constant challenge and changes. Claire thrived on the tasks required and learnt how to innovate to stay ahead!  Claire then took the decision to start a family, which led her to working for NNL as it fitted with family life, initially working two days a week. 

Claire has a successful career at NNL and uses the innovative skills she developed to enhance working practices for everyone. 

To find out more visit: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/claire-hindle-9591327 

Gary Cookson is Director at Epic HR Ltd. He grew up in Winsford, Cheshire and went to Verdin High School. He still lives in Winsford with his wife and four children and has been recognised in HR magazine’s HR Most Influential: Movers and Shakers 2019.

After finishing high school, Gary went to the University of Huddersfield to study history which was a subject that had always been of great interest to him. Gary then went on to do a PGCE in secondary history at the University College of St Martins in Lancaster which is now part of the University of Cumbria.

After completing his PGCE, Gary went on to have a variety of different roles including Process Improvement Manager, Training and Development and Head of HR before getting his ‘lightbulb moment’ in 2017. It was at a CIPD conference that Gary got his lightbulb moment and realised the importance of getting the work-life balance right after a couple of family setbacks and how he himself in HR needed to lead by example. Gary’s got a down to earth, personal story of growth which we can all learn from.

You can find out more information here: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/garycookson   https://epichr.co.uk

Monica Mwanje is Managing Director of MM Creative Solutions and Co-Founder of Diversity and Inclusion in Nuclear.

Monica grew up in Merseyside and now resides in Liverpool. During lockdown, she had the pleasure of her brothers living with her!

After leaving higher education, Monica went to Birmingham University to study chemical engineering whilst combining it with a language. From here, Monica was successful in securing a job at Sellafield Ltd as a Graduate Chemical Engineer where she found herself being one of only a couple of black employees. Monica talks about how that felt and sparked an inner desire to do something about it, which came later in her career.

After Sellafield, Monica moved to Jacobs to work as a process engineer moving to Atkins a year later in a similar role. The valuable experience she gained allowed her to move to a more senior role at DBD involved in Defence Sector work. After three years, Monica took the courageous decision to set-up her own consultancy providing services to help businesses grow in nuclear and other regulated sectors through expert guidance on the political landscape and supply chain opportunities whilst offering support and training on diversity and inclusion .

Through Monica’s consultancy work, she realised that diversity and inclusion in the workplace was beginning to be recognised and co-founded Diversity and Inclusion in Nuclear offering practical support to organisations and people managing teams and to share best practice and how to work together to achieve diversity and inclusion.

For more information visit: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/monicamwanje and https://dinuclear.com/

Kirsty Gogan is the Managing Director of LucidCatalyst and Co-Founder of Energy for Humanity a non-profit organisation focused on solving climate change. She grew up in Dublin and Lemington Spa, and now lives in southeast London with husband Anthony and two children. 

After finishing high school, Kirsty wanted a bit of freedom and to earn some money. She worked as the as the manager of an opticians, but soon realised this wasn’t for her.  She read Politics at the University of West of England and loved the debate and discussion but recognised a UK-centric perspective of world events.  Kirsty wanted to travel and to understand the perspective of others in a very different and sustainable culture; this led her to live in Romania to do grass roots environmental work. 

Returning to the UK, Kirsty started work in the press office for the Department for Environment where she was promoted to senior press officer for the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.  She studied for an MSc in business strategy politics and environment at Birkbeck before working as Head of PR at Futerra.  Kirsty then moved on to the Department for Energy and Climate Change in the nuclear directorate, much to the surprise of her friends. 

Kirsty highly recommends reading Professor Sir David MacKay’s book “Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air” (www.withouthotair.com) which opened her eyes to the scale of the energy challenge and not being able to address it with renewables alone. 

For more information about Kirsty visit: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-gogan-alexander-8153095 

Dr Mark Edmiston is Head of Independent Assurance for the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory. He lives in Cumbria with his wife Lindsay and their two children. Mark talks to us about his love of history and how that took him to study Chemistry at the University of Glasgow to PhD level!

After leaving University, Mark successfully got a job at BNFL as a technologist working on advanced reprocessing, gaining Chartered Chemist status. Following spells in project management and people management Mark became a key member of a small team which implemented a behavioural safety programme within Research and Technology. From here, Mark took on the roles of EHS&Q Manager and Capability Manager, before taking up a role leading behavioural safety.

Mark is now Head of Independent Assurance leading a team of highly experienced internal regulators and senior assurance specialists.  For further information:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mark-edmiston-cfiosh-11851334 

Christie Spurling talks about the challenges he faced in his early years.  One of only three black children growing up in Lymm in the 1970's he struggled with racism and learning difficulties.  The challenges were so severe that he was permanently excluded from school and placed in a full-time residential unit. 

Jay Bhart tells us about challenges at school and discovering that he had dyslexia. His inspirational journey explains how he learnt to manage this and go on to have a successful career; from being an apprentice at Rolls-Royce to Programme Office Director for the UK’s Nuclear Sector Deal.

Jay explains the importance of listening to the reason why people respond to a situation in a certain way by understanding their point of view and how it unlocks a different sort of conversation. He also has some great advice on cultural differences and how to learn about these differences before setting up a business meeting! 

Jay stays fit with his martial arts and he continues to teach Kung Fu once a week allowing him to pass on his knowledge to others. Jay grew up in Slough and now lives in Bristol with his partner and young family. Find out more about Jay at: www.linkedin.com/in/jatinder-bhart-apmp-mba-ceng-mimeche-2aa84514/  

Trevor Llewelyn has had two parallel careers: an International High Jump Coach and Head of Department at his former school, Dulwich College. He grew up in South Croydon with limited access to academic subjects before gaining a free place on the 11+ to Dulwich College where he admits he struggled with the variety of subjects on offer.