GRM, Laurus House, First Avenue, Centrum 100, Burton upon Trent, Staffs, DE14 2WH
Tel: 01283 551249
Email: info@grm-uk.com
GRM, Anson House, Compass Point Business Park, Northampton Road, Market Harborough, Leics, LE16 9HW
Tel: 01858 414981
Email: info@grm-uk.com
There are many people who work together to make GRM what it is; here, a few of our valued team introduce themselves and their jobs to you.
Matthew Tomkins joined GRM in March 2003 as an Assistant Engineer and now works as an Engineering Geologist. Before working at GRM, he studied Geography at Coventry University, and then worked in a contamination testing laboratory.
Matthew's role is very varied and interesting and involves arranging, carrying out and writing-up ground works, carrying out remediation works, collating information, desk studies and writing full site reports, liaising with clients and other third parties who are involved with projects and producing plans using CAD and HOLEBASE.
Matthew had little previous experience of this type of work when he joined the company and has had to learn it all from scratch; he is very proud of how far he’s come since 2003.
A reliable, hard working, and trustworthy member of the team, Matthew is also a bit of a joker. Outside work he’s a big music fan, and he tries to take in as many live events as he can. He also enjoys cycling, fishing, pool, golf and real ales.
Hywel studied Construction at Hereford Technical College and Worcester College before working in Civil Engineering and Facilities Management. He joined GRM in August 2002 as a Site Supervisor, rising to Construction Manager not long after. In April 2007, Hywel was made Associate Director (Construction) by GRM.
Hywel now heads up the Construction Department and his job involves managing a team of four full time site inspectors who supervise all aspects of GRM site works. He’s really proud of the work he’s done within his department and over the last three and a half years has seen it grow to become an important part of the company.
This growth has been aided by Hywel’s great management style – he’s straight talking, down to earth, approachable, and a real team player. This is evidenced also in his leisure time, as he is a fan of motorsport; but he is not just a bystander – he's chairman of his local motor club and a voluntary marshal at motorsport events throughout the country.
Cristina Calleja is GRM’s Waste Management Co-ordinator, having joined GRM in April 2007. Cristina graduated from the University of Barcelona in 2002 with a Bsc (Hons) in Environmental Science, including a year’s university placement at Swansea, Wales. Following her graduation, Cristina worked at Leicestershire County Council and Environ respectively, before arriving bright-eyed and bushy tailed at GRM.
Cristina’s role at GRM is primarily responsible for helping companies minimise their waste production. Cristina’s role is innovative in that she regularly develops and implements new environmental projects, taking the fundamentals of environmental science and applying her knowledge and experience to best possible effect for commercial entities.
A highlight of Cristina’s career at GRM has been the collaboration with a Resource Efficiency Club in Milton Keynes. Together, they worked with ten construction companies teaching them how best to utilise their industrial waste production.
Outside of GRM, Cristina enjoys weight training (!), having recently visited Las Vegas on a four day body building jaunt for the Mr and Mrs Olympia 2007 title. Each to their own, nothing odd about that you may think, but Cristina is 5’3” and can be held in the palm of a very small hand!
In addition to Las Vegas, Cristina lives to travel, or travels to live, having visited New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome and Swansea, to name but a few.
Amanda Bramall joined GRM in October 2007, having previously worked as HR Manager for the BBC at their prestigious Mailbox offices in Birmingham. Amanda is GRM's first in-house HR Manager following rapid company growth, and has been tasked with heading up GRM’s HR function. Amanda has a vast amount of HR experience to date, including change and induction programmes, effective coaching, counselling and disciplinary and grievance procedures, making her perfect for the role at GRM (not that we are expert at lodging grievances, mind).
Being a 21st century mum to Josh and good lady wife to her hubby, Amanda rarely finds time to herself. However when she does get the chance to take five, Amanda enjoys skiing, creative writing, a large glass of white wine (don’t we all) and swimming.
Before settling down to family life, Amanda is yet another of GRM’s travellers, having trekked around the world extensively for a year, visiting the USA, Australia, Singapore and Thailand. Amanda also lived in Greece and Austria for 7 months, working in HR hospitality (when not sunbathing).
After studying for a BSc in Estates Management at Sheffield Hallam University and an MSc in Environmental Analysis at Anglia Polytechnic University, Richard spent some time travelling around the world.
He worked for Cleanaway, Mott MacDonald and in the Gulf, before landing his role as Senior Geo-Environmental Scientist at GRM February 2004.
Richard now works as Principal Geo-Environmental Scientist and enjoys his varied and fulfilling role, which involves contaminated land risk assessment and remediation, environmental auditing, training, and marketing.
Richard’s sense of humour helps him through the demands of day-to-day work at GRM, and he jokes that colleagues view him with awe and contempt! In his spare time he enjoys cycling and boozing, but not at the same time.
Tim has been with GRM since 1997, when he joined as a Geologist. Now working as a Senior Geologist, he spends much of his time writing factual and interpretative reports and managing the company's geotechnical software system. He also fits in the occasional day on site.
Tim’s background is in Geology – he studied Applied Geology at Oxford Polytechnic and then completed a PhD in Marine Geology at Imperial College, London. After studying he lectured for a year at Derby University before joining GRM.
Away from work, Tim's passion is scuba diving - both for fun and as an instructor. Tim has seen GRM grow to what it is today and looks forward to its continued growth and the challenges that this will bring.
Bev is a recent addition to GRM, having joined the company’s Finance Department in February 2008 as part-time Credit Controller and Sales Ledger Clerk. Having previously worked in Management for various high street retail outlets, Bev decided upon a radical career change and dived head first into Accounting – brave girl! Qualified in OCR Level 2 Book Keeping at Diploma stage, Bev is currently studying for her Level 3 Diploma, with intentions to top this up to her AAT Intermediate Accounting Level 3 in 2009. Bev’s one of the rare breed that actually enjoys the challenges of credit control. You can literally see the pound signs ker-chinging in her eyes!
Bev’s part-time position at GRM enables her to maintain a healthy work-life balance with her family duties and part-time studying. GRM has been happy to accomodate her son’s schooling, allowing Bev the flexibility and peace of mind should a change in hours be required.
When she’s not number crunching, Bev likes to prop up her local bar on nights out with her female friends. If you have any future hen parties on the horizion – please let Bev know! She’s your token ‘dancing on the table’ friend! In addition to the girl’s nights out, Bev enjoys travelling and keep fit. Bev also prepares business accounts for both her husband and friend (but is this really a hobby?!).