Drainage Careers Advice: How Chris Went From Trainee Drainage Engineer to CCTV Systems Manager
We’re dedicated to ensuring that a fantastic and rewarding career in the drainage industry is more than a pipe dream and that it’s attainable for everyone who starts working in the sector and with Lanes Group.
As a result, we want to provide as much advice as possible to those considering entering the drainage industry or those who have just started their journey in the sector.
We want to show them that there is much more to this job than drains, pipes and sewage.
What is a career in the drainage industry really like?
We interviewed Chris Wilde, our CCTV Systems Manager, to learn about his career and journey at Lanes Group.
He told us all about:
- How he got started in the industry
- How he was able to move up the career ladder
- What advice he’d give to new starters in the industry
- The characteristics he looks for when hiring new team members
- What makes Lanes Group such a good employer
We hope that Chris’s firsthand experience and wealth of industry knowledge will help you understand what life is like in the drainage industry.
How he started his career in the drainage industry
I first started at Lanes Group when I was 16. My uncle was a plumber, and he knew someone at the company, who helped me get a job as an assistant on one of the operational units.
Back then, it was a relatively small company, and I started working as an assistant in a small camera van. We towed a trailer jetter around to clean and survey drains.
We worked in many different environments, including private houses, commercial premises, factories, football stadiums, and even prisons.
HM Prison Escape Tunnel
One that comes immediately to mind was a job we attended at HM Prison Leeds in the Armley area. A hole had been drilled through the floor by the inmates, and we had to go onto one of the wings with an escort and put a camera down there to make sure there was no escape tunnel.
First to Enter Bolton Wanderers Stadium
During its construction, I also worked on Bolton Wanderers’ stadium cleaning and surveying every drain, including the pitch drainage. As a result we were among some of the first people to ever walk on that pitch.
Building Manchester City's Stadium
Another time, we worked at Manchester City’s stadium while it was under construction. The site had been excavated on two basement levels, and then two-foot diameter pile holes were drilled to around 20 metres further down. These were to be filled with concrete to act as support stilts, but because the site was in a former mining area, there was concern about old wells, mineshafts and tunnels. We spent months sending the camera down to investigate!
It shows that although this equipment is essentially a camera on a rod, its applications are endless.
The next step on the career ladder
I passed my driving test on my 18th birthday, so when I returned to work, Lanes Group gave me my van so I could work independently. At this point, I was working as a team leader.
Pipe Coding Course
Around this time, Lanes Group put me forward to attend the WITA D20 pipe coding course down in Swindon. The course had a minimal pass rate, and I was one of the youngest to attend and pass the course the first time. Today’s equivalent is the OS20X, but I have since upgraded my qualification to the more recent 0S30X.
After a couple of years, I was offered the chance to work at a different company and move up the career ladder again. I took the opportunity because I was very ambitious and I wanted to push myself. Over the next six years, I was given more responsibility as a storeman and, eventually, progressed into office roles, starting as a job coordinator and continuing to climb further up the ladder. I finally held the position of Operations Manager, with 96 people reporting directly to me.
Operations Manager to Project Manager
At this point I moved back to Lanes Group and took a project management position, and over the last seven years have progressed into my current senior management role.
What advice would you have for people starting in the industry?
I think it’s important to learn as much as you possibly can and be willing to constantly develop. I love to learn new skills and I have been able to do this at Lanes by attending over 80 different training courses, all of which have been instrumental to my personal development.
In this industry people traditionally choose one discipline – for example, cameras, jetting, relining or excavation – but I think if you’re multi-skilled then it gives you the best possible chance of building a great career for yourself.
There’s much more opportunity to make yourself useful and move ahead. The knowledge and experience gained by performing multiple roles has helped my management career immensely.
What characteristics do I look for when hiring new team members?
Flexibility & adaptability
Being flexible is crucial. I always look for people who are willing to go with the flow – because change is constant.
Drainage service isn’t a 9 – 5 industry. Sometimes you might be out the door at 7 a.m but then out working until midnight. So, a willingness to do adapt is essential.
Enthusiasm
So is a willingness to do a great job and offer excellent great service. For example, arriving at a customer’s house at 7 p.m to clear a blockage after a hard day’s work and still being able to be enthusiastic shows great character. The last impression they want to get is that you’re not excited. Their world has probably been turned upside down by a lack of basic facilities and possibly foul waste flooding, and they need to know they can depend on you.
Attitude is more important than skills
Skills are ultimately less critical than character. Over the years I’ve learned that our industry is full of people from all walks of life, and we can train them up to a very high standard.
Sometimes people come to us with no formal qualifications and lower than average reading and writing abilities or even dyslexia, but we never write them off. In fact, we support them fully. We can train them up to do a great job and trust them to operate and maintain state-of-the-art art equipment that can cost upwards of £500,000 — but only if their attitude is right.
Why is Lanes a good employer?
There are many different levels at which a Lanes employee might sit, meaning the benefits and perks will be entirely different for each person at each level of seniority.
Flexibility and work-life balance
However, the flexibility of the job is one of the best things. At my level, if I need to drop the kids off at school, then I can do that, as long as I’m doing my work, getting to my meetings and making everyone happy. Work/life balance is critical to Lanes Group, which is one of many great benefits of working for the company.
High quality equipment
I am very lucky to be provided with and utilise state-of-the-art computers, software, and equipment. As a market leader in our sector, Lanes has invested heavily in the best tools to do the job.
Nationwide operating centres
Another fantastic perk of the job is the travel. As Lanes Group has a nationwide cover with many individual operating centres, I’ve visited and worked in lots of different places and spent time in cities and towns that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to go to. I have even managed to travel abroad to different countries as part of my role.
One particular place I am very fond of is Aberdeen; I was seconded to this depot for a little over a year. When I arrived at the office door on the first day, I was pretty nervous and I didn’t know anyone, but because it was a Lanes office, I knew how it would work and the kinds of people I’d be working alongside. When I got in there, I was immediately made to feel at home and was quite sad to leave that secondment. But they gave me a great send-off, which I’ll never forget. Thanks to this job, I’ve made some great, long-lasting friendships across the whole of the UK.
Looking to start your career at Lanes?
We’re always looking for people with a can-do attitude and a willingness to learn.
We would love to hear from you if you want to start a career in the drainage services industry.
We have a wide range of different roles and vacancies all across the country.
Take a look at our latest vacancies to see our current job openings.