Our Senior IT Manager Tom Boot will be retiring after nearly 35 years’ service with Henry Boot across a number of roles.
After leaving school in 1982 and a number of placements – including with Henry Boot Construction – during his HND in Civil Engineering, Tom fully joined the company in September 1986 as a Trainee Site Engineer in our then Civil Engineering division. He successfully progressed through to becoming a Site Engineer and then on to Senior Engineer before briefly transferring across to our Building division.
After a spell in the office with Planning and assisting the Chief QS, it was noted that Tom had developed an aptitude for using computers and other new and ‘strange’ technologies to solve construction challenges. It was at this point he was appointed as IT Coordinator, his first official IT position where he has progressed, becoming Senior IT Manager.
Tom recalls one of his favourite memories on site: “Measurements on site, no matter how long, used to be done with a 30m tape and spirit level, it was all we had at the time. But when we got our first chance to use an electronic distance measurer, I checked the length of a structure I was working on, and whilst it was over 100m long I was only a couple of millimetres out – honest!”
Outside of the business, he is known for his sociable nature and sense of humour which will be missed by colleagues across the company. This feeling is mutual, with Tom saying the thing he will miss most about Henry Boot is the people, who he says have been ‘good and genuine friends’ and ‘a most kind audience’.
Speaking about his plans for retirement, Tom told us his garden is going to get some serious attention – with his eyes on the Chelsea Flower Show. He also plans to play his guitar more and see more of the world.
I wanted to thank Tom for his sterling service of nearly 35 years, and on behalf of all at Henry Boot Construction wish him a long, happy, and healthy retirement.
I am sure that we all look forward to celebrating Tom’s significant contribution to the success of the business when Covid-19 restrictions allow.Simon Carr, Managing Director
