Gareth Makarek

Energy Manager

My career at Orb Electrical Steels started as a mechanical engineer in 1993 when I was 16 as a Mechanical Apprentice. After completing my apprenticeship I entered the sponsored student programme and attended the University Of Glamorgan, where I gained a B.Eng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering degree. I then went on to a graduate role within the Mechanical Engineering Department.

In my first few years after graduating, I carried out several roles within the Mechanical Engineering Department, including a secondment in Production. After several years I moved into Project Engineering and during this time I took on project work in the Cold Mill in Port Talbot, working on a £7million turbo pickling modification project. My next role was as Works' Mechanical Engineer which was a high profile role and gave me excellent opportunity to develop my leadership skills.

My role now, as Energy Manager, gives me responsibility for looking at ways to get better value out of energy usage within the company and developing strategies in line with the business needs, as well as reducing our carbon footprint. Here at Orb Electrical Steels we take energy efficiencies and the plans to reduce our carbon footprint very seriously. It's a big task, but an important one, with all employees getting involved. It was great to see all our hard work pay off when we received the GE Ecomagination Leadership Award this year at a formal presentation in London for significant environmental and economical performance improvements through a water saving scheme we implemented on site.