With over 160 years industry experience Survitec prides itself on having the best in class industry experience. This would be hollow however, if it wasn’t for the commitment and dedication of its employees. Without them Survitec would not have been able to achieve all that it has today and would not be able to realise the ambitious future that lies ahead.
Survitec is fortunate to have a wonderfully knowledgeable, talented and longstanding employee base, some of which have spent many years supporting and working for the company. It’s not uncommon to come across teams within Survitec who have been working in each other’s company for many years and bring with them a fascinating pool of knowledge.
One example is the 4 ‘J’s of Survitec Peterhead, Scotland. The team made up of Julie, Jannette, Joyce and Jerry, have been working for Survitec for a combined 54 years. They are predominately focused on our energy aviation lifejacket and survival suit business. Between them, they have travelled across the world training, teaching and supporting local teams.
Here is what they had to say about life at Survitec.
Julie McKenzie
Supervisor, Operations – Aviation
Julie is a supervisor in charge of the service unit, with the responsibility of ensuring staff are trained and competent when working on their daily tasks. A critical aspect of Julie’s responsibilities include making sure that all safety equipment for the heliports are ready and delivered on time and in full to meet the requirements of the helicopter operator and prevent delay for the passenger transfer.
When Julie joined the team 12 years ago, her first job was general operative. After a few years, Julie trained to be a first aider and fire warden and still completes her duties in these areas to this day. We asked Julie about her favourite part of the job and why she liked working for Survitec.
“I like working alongside my team and making sure I get the safety equipment required for upcoming flights completed on time and in full to meet the customer’s requirements. I like the day to day challenges of getting the job done and having the job satisfaction at the end when I know we have delivered as required.”
Another element of Julie’s job is travelling overseas, which she said, “was something I never expected, so it was really rewarding to visit other Survitec sites and meet employees across our global network.”
Jannette Wilson
Service Supervisor
Jannette is a service supervisor who has worked for Survitec for over 14 years. Jannette first started as a general operative, responsible for air testing and visual inspection of survival suits. She shared with us a memorable experience whilst working for Survitec.
“Back in 2007, Survitec made the decision to put in a back-shift team to meet the ever-growing demand from our customers. I was approached and asked to supervise this shift; I had 22 new employees that all required training on air testing, visual inspection and repairs of survival suits. This was a big challenge but one that I enjoyed. I built up a very successful team of fully competent staff who all worked extremely hard and were able to fulfil our customer’s needs.”
Jannette commented that her favourite part of the job is “working with a variety of people and different nationalities to ensure we keep our customers happy. I also like the importance of my job, helping to keep people safe and help save lives.”
Like Julie, Jannette has had to travel for work, and has visited countries including Canada, Belgium and Norway to help train other Survitec employees. Whilst in Norway, Jannette was part of a team that set up a new facility.
Joyce Smith
Manufacture Supervisor
Joyce is a manufacture supervisor; having been with Survitec for more than 22 years this makes Joyce the longest serving member of this team.
Joyce first joined the team as a sewing machinist. During her time with the company, she has been responsible for the training of many other machinists - both in the UK and overseas.
We asked Joyce what the most exciting thing she got to do through working at Survitec has been, “definitely getting to visit so many different places to train others, which I find extremely satisfying. My favourite place that I have visited has to be Italy!”
Joyce speaks very highly of her colleagues saying that “I really enjoy working with people that have a great attitude to the job at hand and the enjoyment of seeing the end product going out to the customer.” We also asked Joyce what her favourite part of the job was, and her response was “I love seeing a product going through manufacture from start to finish at such a high standard. I also like that everyone here works as a team.”
Jerry Christie
Operations Manager
Jerry Christie is the operations manager and has worked for Survitec for almost 6 years. Jerry oversees the work carried out in four Survitec service sites and the daily operations within all UK Heliports. His primary customers are those within the energy sectors and those based at Survitec’s largest aviation service site in Peterhead. His responsibilities extend to three other sites which include Baku, Bergen and Ravenna.
We asked Jerry what the most exciting thing he’s got to do through work has been and his response was “I am fortunate in that I do a fair bit of travelling in my role. I oversee all the UK heliport locations from Sumburgh down to Norwich and I also have responsibility for our service sites, it is always great to go and spend time with the teams in these locations”. Jerry said his favourite part of working in operations is ‘it’s rare that two days that are the same’ he enjoys the variety of his role which provides a great deal of job satisfaction.