The People Issue UK 2022

The first EWUK People Issue profiles nine industry leaders in this special section.

ELEVATOR WORLD UK is proud to present its first issue devoted to people. Our industry is rich with history, innovation, invention and, yes, even drama — and people are behind it all. Regardless of physical location or whether they work in the office or the field, with numbers, words or both, the nine vertical-transportation (VT) industry professionals selected for the first ELEVATOR WORLD UK People Issue have several traits in common. Without exception, they are leaders, lifelong learners and teachers full of smarts and determination who are passionate about the VT industry. Although 300 words is not nearly enough to honor these individuals, we believe these profiles provide an overview of what makes them special.

Richard Annable

Kapok 88

Richard Annable’s goal was to become a professional golfer, but, after a few years, he realised that his putting wasn’t quite good enough. His parents, Brian and Linda Annable, started Kapok 88 in 1988 providing elevator interior protection products, and “the opportunity to be part of the family business was not one to miss!” he said. His time with the company began with his travelling the “length and breadth of the U.K.” and visiting customer sites to get to know them, carry out site surveys and install fixings. He became managing director (MD) in 2008 in preparation for his parents’ retirement and continues in this role today. As MD, he spends most of his time growing sales and “leading the Kapok team to deliver great service.”

In his years with Kapok 88, Richard has had what he calls the “honour” to supply many landmark sites across Europe, with several of the Royal Households being a particular highlight. Other projects of note have been in supporting OEMs on major projects, such as Schindler’s top range division on the Lakhta Center Project in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Crescent-on-Shore in Baku, Azerbaijan.

When asked about his favourite part of the vertical-transportation industry, Richard said:

“The exhibitions are always a highlight for me. I get time to meet new customers and catch up with good friends. Being in the industry has given me access to incredible buildings and projects … everything from fabulous penthouse suites in Dubai to Buckingham Palace.”

With the same vision as his parents but with a global perspective, Richard obtained the company’s first distributor just one year after taking the helm. In continuing to grow Kapok 88’s business, he notes that creating and expanding the company’s distributor network across Europe and U.A.E. “has been invaluable to us and our growth in becoming a well-known brand.”

Dave Cooper

LECS (UK)

In his 40-plus years in the industry, Dave Cooper has put together a long list of achievements. Academic, consultant, author, professor, founder, philanthropist and expert witness are just a few of the words to describe his various roles and accomplishments. He entered the industry in the 1980s through an apprenticeship with British Railways Ltd., and the rest, as they say, is history, as he has advised on more than 6,000 installations. Now, as CEO of The Lift and Elevator Consultancy (LECS (UK)), he has “the privilege of leading a team of talented and highly experienced engineers working in a sector I love.” He is also a visiting professor at the University of Northampton and a board member of CIBSE. He founded the Lift Academy and chairs the UK Lift Industry Charity and the charitable trust that organises the annual Lift & Escalator Symposium.

Dave has done extensive research into “falls over the sides of escalators by minors” and incidents, injuries and deaths caused by shopping trolleys and luggage carts on escalators, which prompted important changes to European standards. “I am pleased to report that over the years both of these research projects have saved lives,” he said, adding:

“Safety and the achievement of zero fatalities within the lift and escalator sector is my life’s ambition. I have dedicated the last 30 years of my engineering career to improving the safety of lift and escalator passengers and engineers, and I was honoured to be awarded the Sir Moir Lockhead award for this in 2021.”

Beyond this, he also enjoys teaching.

“I love sharing my knowledge through presentations, as well as educating and nurturing the next generation of engineers and was made a Fellow of the City & Guilds Institute for my ‘unswerving dedication to training young engineers.’” 

Colin Craney

SVM Associates

Colin Craney joined Otis in the 1970s, completing EITB J5 and J25, and then (what is now) LEIA Distance Learning through which he formed an association with the University of Northampton culminating in his obtaining a Lift Engineering MSc. His Otis training included hands-on field experience, structured product training and time in the Liverpool factory providing access to a comprehensive understanding of industry equipment and practice. He also spent 10 years in the field, which provided a solid foundation for future development, and eventually moved into sales. “The change from field to management is complex, and I am indebted to my then managers and colleagues for their patience and forbearance,” he said.

Following 26 years with Otis, Colin spent 18 years in consulting and is now with SVM Associates as an engineer, expert witness, H&S practitioner, CDM principal designer and dispute resolution professional. These roles were built out of his past experiences:

“Observation of 1970s work practices, coupled with a witness appearance in a commercial case 30 years ago, sparked my interest in health and safety and law, which I developed as an IOSH Chartered Safety and Health Practitioner, lawyer and mediator as well as attaining Chartered Engineer status with CIBSE. Subsequently I have investigated hundreds of accidents and engineering failures.”

Additionally, as a way of giving back to the industry, Colin’s been a CIBSE EPA assessor for three years and said that he is “consistently amazed by the high quality of young people entering engineering,” adding:

“I’d happily recommend the industry to a young person with the proviso that they should actively seek to develop their career independently, wherever possible, with the support of their employer organisation. I enjoy the industry and its diversity of people and roles together with the diversity of opportunity offered to me.”

David Jackson

Retired, Jackson Lifts

David Jackson learned about the industry in 1967 through a vocational apprenticeship, where he found his way into lift and escalator service, callouts and repair, staying in this role through the end of his apprenticeship and working as lift and escalator service, callout and repair engineer until 1975 when he became a senior fitter. He said:

“With a vocational apprenticeship, you benefit from knowledge and skills handed down to each generation. Working with different engineers on various types of lift and escalators taught me the necessary knowledge and skills to be successful in my future career.”

He was the third employee to join Cable Lifts in 1981, which later changed its name to Jackson Lifts. In 2020, he retired from his role as managing director of lift and escalator service, callout and repairs.

David also chaired the company committee for health and safety for almost 30 years, passed the NEBOSH National General Certificate in 2009 and became a technical member of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. He was, and still is, a part of the LEIA Health, Safety & Environment Committee and Education & Training Group, helping to develop and share safety information sheets, which he believes has reduced industry accidents.

He said he has continued “learning every day,” and he’s been able to use his experience in training others. He said he has overseen more than 300 training programs, adding:

“It was a privilege to take on this role, which was very rewarding to see people you helped train being promoted within the company, and, no doubt, one day a former apprentice will sit on the board of the company.”

In his retirement, David is part of the group reviewing the Trailblazer apprenticeship STO252 — which he helped to develop — and is on the working group updating BS7255.

Darren Kelly

Drucegrove

Darren Kelly’s time in the elevator industry was supposed to be temporary. While looking for another job, he joined Drucegrove, which was founded by his father (who is currently 90 and travelling), as temporary quality assurance manager to help the company achieve BS5750 accreditation. This was in 1992, and he’s been there ever since, now serving as managing director (MD). In this role, he is primarily responsible for the direction and culture of the company. “With a background in R&D, I have a keen interest in research and product development, and with an excellent team of colleagues alongside me, I always strive to keep Drucegrove at the forefront of innovation and product development,” Darren said.

Notable projects for the company include the Mass Transit Railway (MRT) in Hong Kong, where finished glass elevator cabs were shipped directly from Otis’s Liverpool factory complete with new multicharacter high resolution dot matrix displays in stainless steel tubular housings displaying Cantonese and English text, along with bilingual DigiTalker® speech units, recorded and digitised in London; and One Canada Square in Canary Wharf where Drucegrove supplied a complementary system comprising 124 DragonFly™ TFT screens networked to a central server and allowing video streaming and advanced content including weather and the status of Tube lines direct from Transport for London, all interfaced to Otis’s destination control. The work in Hong Kong led to a subsequent MRT project in Singapore, and, Darren said, “One Canada Square is a prestige building and was a high-profile project to work on alongside the end client and the main contractor, Otis. It was a privilege and a pleasure.”

Darren says his favourite part of the industry is the people, and his advice to other MDs is training: “Recruit young, enthusiastic people and get the right material for your company; then, train them … and never stop.”

John Newbold

SVM Associates

John Newbold’s original career plan was to stay on at school and head to university, but at the age of 16, his careers officer came up with a vacancy for an Otis apprenticeship. In the early 1980s, with record unemployment, this paid job was a more attractive prospect than trying to enter the employment market later on. “In hindsight, this was a great decision, as Otis provided both wide vocational training and formal technical education,” John said. By the age of 26, he was principal engineer for Otis’ Birmingham service region. He said this was an interesting period with the transition from electromechanical controllers and Ward Leonard DC drives to microprocessor and variable speed drives, adding: “I’m pretty sure I could still set up and adjust a generator from scratch!”

Eventually, John was a part of building SVM Associates’ (SVMA) lift consultancy business. After a management buyout in 2004, he became shareholder and principal of SVMA’s vertical transport business. His primary focus is the commercial success of the business, but his technical background ensures that he is still drawn to finding solutions to engineering problems.      He said:

“I have seen that, in some ways, technology has made things simpler for the field mechanic, but the breadth of required knowledge has widened to include data networks, safety integrity level circuits and software apps.”

SVMA has been involved with many high-profile projects, but John said that the more standard buildings often present the thorniest challenges. With 39 years in the industry, John says he loves “the challenge of learning new things.” He added:

“I am lucky to meet a wide range of people from owners of large estates, other property professionals, designers, suppliers and, best of all, lift field people — the best of these seeming a little eccentric. I’d be proud to be considered the same way.”

Carey Oakes

Knowsley Lift Services

A main focus of the 30-plus-year career of Carey Oakes, operations director for Knowsley Lift Services (KLS), has been the Royal Liver Building. Her first job in the industry in 1990 with Otis had her based there, and she returned there in the early 2000s during her tenure with Schindler as a lead engineer. Then, most recently, she was back where it all began in her role with KLS and involved in the installation of a new scenic lift in the refurbished main atrium of the Royal Liver Building followed by the complete modernisation of the goods lift (EW UK, 108). Carey said:

“The modernisation of the goods lift at the Royal Liver Buildings was a great project to be involved in. There were lots of memories for me given it was the very first lift I stepped foot on back in 1990. The engineering involved in the transformation of the lift was amazing. It was a great project to work on and all credit to the KLS team for the end product. It was a very proud moment for me and the company.”

Over the years, Carey has “had the privilege of working in some of the city’s most beautiful buildings, especially along the waterfront and in the city center itself.” She’s held various engineering, service and management positions at both Otis and Schindler and even worked as a lift consultant. In 2019, she wanted to be closer to home and joined KLS, where she now oversees the Projects Department/Installations. She added:

“I have had the pleasure of speaking with and working alongside some of the industry’s experts during my 32-year career and for this, I am extremely grateful. However, my colleagues here at Knowsley Lift Services are what make me get out of bed in the morning and keep me smiling.”

Cassandra O’Brien

Shorts Lifts

Cassandra O’Brien started in the lift industry with Shorts Lifts approximately six years ago as components administrator. She has a background in administration and worked at a solicitor’s office for almost 10 years, then a car park garage for a few years.

“Other than using lifts to get to and from car parks, it wasn’t something I had really given any thought to,” she said, adding that she has learned on the job while working. In her time at Shorts, she has progressed to technical sales support engineer for the Components department. In this role, she processes customer orders, quotes and customer enquiries. She orders all the stock for the packages and then checks and rechecks the orders before they go out to customers. She has also completed an AutoCAD design course (which Shorts uses for the wiring diagrams that are provided to customers when the lift controller panels are built) and is currently studying a LEIA course on the basics of lift technology.

When asked about her favourite part of the industry, she said, “Every day is something different,” adding:

“I particularly enjoy helping customers when they are unsure which parts they have or need and giving them the best information or explanation I possibly can, so they can understand the change in product or what they might have to do to get the end result they need.”

Cassandra said the whole team at Shorts Lifts has been helpful in her time and growth in the industry. She said she can always ask for help if she’s unsure, and she gets a clear explanation. She enjoys the interaction with customers both face to face and over the phone, as well as making sure they have what they need and are happy with what Shorts provides.

Reiss Stygal

A&A Electrical

Reiss Stygal started his career in the drawing office of Thyssen before working alongside his father on installation at Elite Elevators and then moving to Thames Valley Controls (TVC) as a trainee on the Controller and Monitoring team. He progressed from trainee to team leader and then joined the sales team. He was then asked to move from TVC to A&A Electrical as the new sales manager. In his role, he supports and maintains relationships with customers, takes feedback and identifies improvement areas, provides solutions for new industry products and provides training on equipment.

With the changes in the environment, industry and economy, Reiss says A&A changed the way it works and supplies products. The company supports the industry with innovation and leads by example by providing energy efficiency products and seeking ways to lower the Dewhurst Group’s carbon footprint. Examples are nationwide upgrades of LED car and shaft lighting, and the company is pushing fully recyclable and reusable products.

Reiss is also a trustee and the secretary to the UK Lift Industry Charity, which is continuously connected to and supportive of the lift industry. He organised the Lift Industry Cycling challenge in July 2021, where approximately 100 participants took part in a 250-km weekend ride and raised approximately £60,000.

Reiss said his favourite part about the industry is the people, adding:

“There isn’t a day I’ve not had support mentally or physically from industry colleagues, management or even new people I meet. In times of need, our industry always pulls together. This, to me, makes us one big family. It’s the people around me that have pushed me to grow within the industry. Industry colleagues and friends have all supported me to grow within the Dewhurst Group, as well as within the UK Lift Industry Charity.”