Spotlight on Fellow: Tom Donnelly
Tom Donnelly is a time-served gas and heating engineer, having completed a traditional nationally-recognised gas apprenticeship to obtain his Level 3 NVQ in Gas Installation and Maintenance.
Tom likens the gas industry to being in an extended family – “we meet key figures along the way that stand out in terms of what they have done to help you develop, and that is what I want to try and bring across within my career story”, he says.
In fact, he credits getting into gas to his brother, Sonny Donnelly, who not only gave him the opportunity to start a gas apprenticeship but also continuously re-iterated the importance of understanding the regulations and normative documents, making Tom read them and then discussing their meaning together.
While working with Sonny, his work consisted mainly of central heating installations but also covered heating breakdowns, repairs, and servicing. However, when Sonny’s workload wasn’t enough to support an apprentice, halfway through his apprenticeship, Tom was taken on by Ash Fidler, who Tom describes as another key influencer.
“Work with Ashley was 99% central heating installations, and this is where I learned the importance of attention to detail, getting the job done no matter what it takes and customer care. Ash was also the person who gave me my first opportunity to work solo as a qualified engineer, doing mainly central heating installations. When the work dried up, I went self-employed, working for a local heating firm doing central heating installations”.
A big change in Tom’s career came when he was appointed as the Gas Compliance Officer at Stoke on Trent City Council by Rob Faulkner. For Tom, this was a second apprenticeship of sorts – Rob took the time to guide him through things he hadn’t previously covered in his apprenticeship and “he wasn’t just a boss, he was a mentor and a lot like a second father”, he says. Tom’s time at Stoke on Trent Council allowed him to work on all types of domestic gas works - from auditing annual gas safety checks, desktop audits, technically overseeing Permali meter box installation projects and assisting with managing the central heating budget.
The next big change in his career came in the form of Dave Tomkin – who Tom describes as a mentor and great friend – taking the time to answer some questions about the benefits of joining IGEM as an Engineering Technician. “After speaking to David, I decided that the benefits of joining IGEM were clear but, more than anything, it sounded interesting and offered opportunities that I had never even thought possible without their assistance”.
This led to Tom applying for a Technical Officer job vacancy at IGEM and, following a successful interview, he was appointed into what he describes at the “IGEM family”.
“I call it a family because much like the gas industry that is what IGEM is. I was supported by my colleagues, such as Thomas Bancroft in ways to conduct myself better around stakeholders, become more punctual and learned a lot about health and safety & auditing processes. While working at IGEM, I was giving brilliant opportunities to learn more about the gas industry as a whole which is exactly why I joined”.
After finding out his wife was pregnant, Tom made the decision to be closer to home and joined Aspire Response as a gas quality supervisor, managing their workforce of 14 gas engineers. He later joined Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing as a Specialist Regional Auditor, where he was responsible for the compliance of all gas works undertaken on behalf of the association and also reviewing policies, procedures, also carrying out desktop checks on internal processes as well as external processes. Shortly after joining the team, Tom was appointed as their Responsible Person for Gas, overseeing the compliance of 33,000 properties and 2 independent gas networks which Tom describes as “very challenging but rewarding”.
Tom later moved to work at Cadent Ltd as a Net Zero Planner, looking at the potential challenges of both electrification of heat, converting to hydrogen and the impacts they may have on their networks. Here, he was able to learn more about network design, construction, analysis, demand and forecasting. Discussing this role, Tom says he was, yet again, “lucky enough to end up with not only a manager but someone I would consider a mentor as well, who really embeds the values of Cadent into his work and his management technique”.
In November 2021, Tom moved on again – this time to L&Q as Gas Compliance Manager, where his role involves operationally managing L&Q’s gas compliance obligations, covering a stock in the region of 105,000 properties.
“I manage both domestic and commercial compliance, as well as renewable heating sources, oil, solid fuel and ventilation”, he says, “Within my role, I have overall management responsibilities of the servicing and repair budgets of up to £18 million annually, including the heating replacement budget. I have led the mobilisation and de-mobilisation project of our domestic gas contract for Servicing and Repair to create a better service for the residents, going from 5 contractors down to 2. I am transitioning the gas team through a full restructure, which helps to create a better level of assurance, accountability and performance”.
He is leading on the project of replacement of the NIBE units within L&Q’s housing stock to help reduce energy running costs for their residents, as well as creating an alternative heating method that demonstrates a Net Zero first approach by L&Q, through collaboration and innovation.
“My key objectives are to provide a safe place for our residents to live, through collaboration with different arms of the organisation to strengthen assurance, policies and processes, asset validation and to improve education on safety for all operational staff and residents, and to ensure that, through collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, my team provides a pragmatic approach to the heating of homes – in line with our corporate Net Zero strategy as well as providing solutions to best deal with fuel poverty”.
For Tom, it’s all about the people mentioned in his career journey, who he says have taught him things that he keeps with him to this day and guide him on decisions he makes.
“They all have a large part to play in all of my successes throughout my career to date and will for any future successes I have. These people have done more than any qualification or job role ever could. I think it’s important to remember that we spend a large portion of our time working and on our career journey and it can be a very lonely journey travelled alone. With the right people, the long tedious journey can become a joyous experience. I believe this is what IGEM offers in abundance - the opportunity to meet like-minded people who are always willing to help where they can”.
“IGEM has allowed me to develop through CPD but has also given me the edge when applying for roles within the gas industry by being able to demonstrate my commitments. I would definitely recommend attending IGEM events - this is one of the key benefits of being a member and allows great opportunities to learn and network”.
Tom has recently become a Fellow of IGEM and says he chose to apply "due to the recognition of being extensively and consistently active within both the gas industry as a whole but also with IGEM, especially with the technical review of industry standards".
“I value my grade because it allows me to demonstrate a level of competence as well as commitment to my industry and the benefits are endless, however you will get as much as you put in”.
Looking to the future of gas, Tom believes it is going to be entirely different than it is today – “I suspect our methods of procuring gas and distributing it will be different however no one really knows what the future holds and that’s what makes it so exciting”.