Our Major Roads Director Peter Molyneux had some great news – he’s been appointed a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). Congratulations Peter! He’s also a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) so we sat down with him to find out more about his career and why professional development and membership bodies are so important. You can read what he had to say below, or scroll down to bottom for the full video interview.
Hi Peter, tell us a bit about your career so far and your current role at Transport for the North (TfN)?
I started at 16 as a trainee technician at Liverpool City Council, and went on to do an ONC and HNC and progress to Head of Service there. It was a fascinating experience and I was there for the redevelopment of Liverpool One – a real challenge. Then I moved to Bolton Council as Assistant Director and later at Trafford Council as Corporate Director. More recently I was at Transport for Greater Manchester as Head of Highways, and then the opportunity came to join Transport for the North in 2016 [Ed: not 2014 as Peter says in the video – it must seem longer because so much has happened in that time].
As Major Roads Director at TfN I work with Highways England, the Department for Transport and our Local Transport Authority partners on the long-term investment programme for roads in our region as part of an integrated transport system.
What is ICE and what does it mean to be a Fellow?
ICE is a learning society for professional people. Its main purpose is to improve society through civil engineering – typically that means things like drainage, roads, rail and buildings. It’s really special for me to be a fellow of both CIHT and ICE – it means peers respect you for your work and hold you in high esteem which means a lot.
What does this recognition mean to those around you?
What is really good is the congratulations I’ve had from my team and colleagues – that means a lot. My dad used to lay tarmac by hand, working all around the world – I think he’d be very proud of me [Ed: we’re all very proud of you Peter!].
What does a Fellow do?
As a fellow of two professional organisations I work to promote them and the benefits they bring. I also act as a mentor to help people become professionally qualified. It’s important that as you go up the ladder yourself you leave it down for people to follow you up – we really need bright people to come in and climb to the top.
Why are professional development and membership bodies important?
They’re very important because they create a network of people to support each other. This network provides leadership and helps people progress, as well as ensuring as a profession we can react to the challenges we’re facing, such as decarbonisation and changing connectivity needs.
What is the best thing about your profession?
Making a difference, and making that difference for a long time – legacy is really important. As engineers we improve public health and connectivity, and grow economies – that’s massive. There are still great challenges ahead so we need to welcome people from different backgrounds and professions in to help us meet them.
Read more about our roads programme here
Here is the full interview below:
