Meet The Team – Richard Bainbridge
24 July 2020
People are a large part of what we do here at Road Traffic Solutions. Through 2020 we wanted to take the time to introduce some of them to you in a short Meet The Team series.
Introducing: Richard Bainbridge
Nickname: No. But my surname was used in a ‘replace a word in a famous film or song title’ game at an event once (I’ve never had so many Facebook notifications over a weekend!)
Position within Road Traffic Solutions: Planning Co-Ordinator
Length of time with Road Traffic Solutions: 3 years
What do you do on a day-to-day basis within your job?
Put together quotes and tenders for customers, book and then manage multiple jobs/sites, invoicing, liaise with customers, councils, suppliers etc via email and phone.
I look after one of the company’s larger and longest running customers, and their sites require multiple and varying types of Traffic Management changes as their work progresses down a road. A lot of their bookings and requests need dealing with that day to be in place for the following working day, and quite often the requested change needs to be in place later that very same day.
What do you like about working at Road Traffic Solutions?
Definitely the interaction with customers on the phone. I have built up strong relationships with a lot of them and we can happily chat about family or have a moan about stressful days together having got ‘the work part’ out of the way. It creates a fun working dynamic, which then makes dealing with any problems together less stressful.
It’s the same when chatting with our Operatives, overtime they’ve gotten a better understanding of what I do and vice versa. If problems arise there’s never any hint of blame, we just work together to get any issues sorted as quickly and efficiently as possible.
I love learning about all parts of the industry, including about the customers works and their clients. Unless you actually work in this area you have no idea of all the organisation and people involved ‘just to put a few cones and signs out’ or so it seems to a regular passer-by.
What are the values that drive you?
Making sure everything I do is 100% correct, and making it as easy and straight forward as possible for whoever my work affects.
Everyone always says ‘honesty and transparency’ but I feel there are levels to that, and people can rely on what I tell them completely.
How has your time at RTS been impacted by Coronavirus and the lockdown?
Considerably. Working from home is very different, everything takes that little bit longer to do remotely and I miss the daily interactions with my work colleagues in the office. Being able to bounce ideas off each other, and the amount you can learn if showing interest in what a colleague is doing is sorely missed. From learning from a member of our Drawing Team regarding the knowledge they have acquired from various TM Plans, to learning about the ‘maths wizardry’ going on in the Accounts Department, to watching the daily juggling act by our Reactive Department of assigning different Operatives to different sites.
Also, I have been balancing work with ‘Home Schooling’ my twin girls, and let’s just say Emergency Works are lot less stressful than Year 5 Maths and English!
What is your favourite quote?
“DO iT RiGHT SO YOU AiN’T GOTTA DO iT TWiCE” Riff Raff aka Dale Dan Tony
And,
“I carried a watermelon” Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman.
What is your favourite song, film or book and why?
The Transformers: The Movie – great soundtrack, unforgettable quotes and it taught me the ‘Universal Greeting’.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not at work?
Spending time with my family, days out together, and ignoring all the DIY that needs doing around our home.
Give a fact about yourself nobody else knows:
I walk around like everything is fine, but deep down, inside my shoe, my sock is sliding off…
For all your Traffic Management needs contact us, or call us on 01724 848246; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Categories: Meet The Team, People, Planning
