In a nutshell, what do you do?

I lead Murphy's innovation capability. This means developing and deploying the strategy to find new ways of working, new technologies and what's new in our industry. This will help make sure that our teams are in touch with the latest thinking and opportunities, as well as a bit of a future gazing. It's really about making sure we are fit for the future and achieve our growth plans. My role is also about empowering our employees to speak up and share their ideas and knowledge.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I get to meet a broad number of people, from board level to site employees. It's just great getting out onto different projects.  Plus I get to meet lots of exciting suppliers, start ups and academics. Every day is different, and busy as well as educational. I learn (and have to learn) about different parts of the business and the industry regularly, it keeps what I do really exciting and interesting.

My typical day

5:30am - Get up and walk to the train station. Yes it's an early start, but I have a wonderful walk to the train station. I then spend 30mins meditating using "Headspace" app on the train – sets me up for the day nicely.

7:15am - Grab a coffee ath Murphy's unofficial meeting room, Benugo, in my keepcup (no plastic here!).

7:30am - Yammer time! Go through yammer, comment and read the latest news. Check the Innovation portal for new ideas and comments. Then I prepare myself for the day, checking any thing that needs chasing and review the portal and outstanding actions.

8am - Breakfast (most important meal of the day… at least for me), I go and say hello to Maria in the canteen in KT who don't even need to ask me what I want! That's customer service – very hipster breakfast of avocado and poached egg and chilli flakes on toast.

8:30am - Unless I have any meetings in the morning, I spend the morning going through the portal, replying to emails, and arranging meetings / catchups with various teams/individuals.

10am - I am often called by teams to hear about some of the innovations or new things they are keen to bring to site or that are new to Murphy. As an example Plant got in touch to share this new dumper truck which has a rotating seat, and great visibility for the driver.

11am - Typically Jack and I regularly hold a workshop / meeting either internally or externally with sector leads, various consortia.

Often this means a day away from the office. This is great fun as we get to spend time with different teams and see different parts of the business. A couple of examples below.

STW Bid workshop on the left.

12:30pm - Lunchtime, if I'm in KT back to the canteen for a very generous serving of amazing food.

1pm - Typically after lunch I'm often out doing site visits, which is something I hugely enjoy. When I do visit sites, it is often to showcase some innovative or just really good methods of working.

Exploring the use of a new type of pipe laying attachement for excavators.

Or seeing the great and challenging work that Triton Knoll are doing. I'm occasionally invited to large industry events either to present or participate on a panel, such as 'London Build' (pictured below).

We sometimes have supplier events/roundtables, where we meet to discuss industrial strategies and opportunities for collaboration.

Afternoon - Back in the office I connect with colleagues to chase up on information, share ideas and opportunities and outputs of these various external meetings I've had. For example Roy Smith from our surveying team, and understanding how satellite applications could help his surveying data / capabilities.

Jack and I use Microsoft Teams, which we are on a trial group for, to track all possible leads, strategic opportunities, ideas, and much much more. This gives us a central source of information for everything we do as a team.

4:45-5pm - I head home or go to an industry event. The evening events I get invited to can be varied… such as an innovation networking events hosted at Google. This picture was about a strategic innovation book lauch that I contributed to.

Last year I was a judge at NCE's (New Civil Engineer) TechFest. This is an exciting evening with lots of start ups, and small businesses sharing some amazing solutions and tech.

 6.45pm - Wind my kids up, put eldest to bed with a story, play with youngest. Then either go to the gym, cook, or catch up with personal / life admin, and even spend some time with my wife!


What am I most proud of about my work at Murphy so far?

Our work in 2018! We started with nothing when I joined and we now have a cohesive, mature and growing innovation capability!

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Innovation at Murphy

Our Innovation Foundation stimulates a consistent team-based approach to problem solving that results in clear social, economic and environmental benefits. Innovation allows us to be better, smarter and safer in everything we do. Discover how we are progressing with innovation in the health and safety space.

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