Profile
Tom Kitching
-
About Me:
I live with my wife, 6 month old daughter, and dog, Lenny, near Wetherby in Yorkshire. I am an engineering consultant. I love my sport, playing and watching, although I struggle playing most sports these days. I love cooking.
-
Read more
Although I now live near Wetherby, I was born and schooled in Hull and spent many years living in Manchester. We moved here about 3 years ago, and then bought our dog Lenny – he is a large dog breed called Leonberger.
In terms of sport, I watch most things (particularly sport documentaries), but like to chill watching a game of rugby union or football every so often. Unfortunately, age means I currently spend most of my time recovering if I try and play any more. However, I have recently started doing cross-fit as I like the physical challenge.
I tend to do most of the cooking in the house, although my wife is quite picky which makes it more of a challenge. My favourite thing is discovering random flavours that work – it’s why I’ll try and always choose something obscure if we go out for a meal.
-
My pronouns are:
He/him
-
My Work:
Engineering consultant working in renewable energy helping companies to build plants that generate electricity.
-
Read more
When a company wants to build a new renewable energy plant that will generate electricity, such as a wind farm, solar farm, biomass plant, energy from waste plant or anaerobic digestion plant, they use our company to advise them. We have experts in our company who know how to build and run these plants, so we can tell the clients what to expect, and tell them about any risks they should think about.
I got into this job after doing chemical engineering at Manchester University. I studied physics, chemistry and maths at A-level, as they were my favourite subjects (except for PE).
-
My Typical Day:
A lot of speaking to people (over the phone or in person), reviewing information and data, and going to interesting sites, that are either under construction or operating.
-
Read more
I spend a lot of time looking at designs and drawings of these plants to check for any issues. I also spend a lot of time on Excel analysing numbers and data.
I often go to the construction sites where these plants are being built, or if the plant has already been built we go round and check if it is running how we would expect it to.
I like the variety of my job, as I can work on dozens of jobs in a year, and meet and work with lots of different interesting people.
-
What I'd do with the prize money:
My friends are going on a skiing holiday for a weekend – I would use the money pay to go on that holiday…and it might help pay for feeding the massive dog.
-
Education:
Hymers College – 2003-2010 (Year 7-Year 11 and sixth form)
Manchester University – 2010-2014 – Chemical Engineering
-
Qualifications:
GCSEs: 5A*s in Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and German, 5 As in English and English Literature, History, French, and IT.
A-Levels: 4A*s in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and Chemistry
University: First in MEng Chemical Engineering.
-
Work History:
2012-2013: ExxonMobil (Southampton) – in the middle of my university course, I spent a year working on an oil refinery. I did a lot of data management and reporting. I didn’t like it and it nearly put me off working in engineering altogether.
2014-2019: Fichtner Consulting Engineers (Stockport) – consultant – as a graduate straight out of university, I spent a lot of time on construction sites, monitoring the construction of power generation facilities.
2019-2022: PM Projen (Runcorn) – project manager – managed projects for companies who wanted to expand their existing plants or build new plants. I worked for companies who make paint, foods, cleaning products, fertilisers
2022-2024: ERM (remote working) – senior consultant – helped clients buying or selling “infrastructure” – infrastructure was basically anything that was essential to helping people do their day-to-day lives e.g. energy generation plants, oil and gas plants, shipping, power lines, water companies. The wider company was a sustainability consultancy – helping clients become more sustainable.
-
Current Job:
Since the beginning of this year, I have re-joined Fichtner Consulting Engineers in Stockport as a senior consultant.
-
Employer:
Fichtner Consulting Engineers: https://fichtner.co.uk/
-
My Interview
-
What did you want to be after you left school?
Wasn't sure - I thought engineering was a good idea as it opened lots of doors
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Sometimes I struggled to stay awake...I blame that on the amount of sport I played
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I always wonder this and I'm not sure. If you set yourself up at school, I think you can stumble upon what you like best.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
At the minute, I really like Nothing but Thieves. But I listen to Arctic Monkeys all the time!
What's your favourite food?
Sunday Roast with beef, Yorkshire puddings and very crispy roast potatoes
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Fix the house so it's not as cold. My daughter to grow up to be a lovely person. Get stronger at the gym.
Tell us a joke.
I washed the car with my little sister the other day. My dad came out and suggested using a sponge instead.
-