Iain Mclean

BSc (Hons), FGS, MIMMMAssociate Director

What is your role at Shadbolt Group?

As an Associate at Shadbolt Group I provide a line of communication between the Directors and other staff, relaying company updates from the Directors and any suggestions, concerns or queries from staff at regular meetings. Day to day I work within the Environmental team designing, managing and undertaking site investigations, remediation supervision and validation. I also assist in coordinating the team and developing our junior staff.

What might someone be surprised to know about you?

I make up one-fifth of Black Ice, an AC/DC tribute band, who Richard Ayoade recently named as his “favourite AC/DC tribute band from the North East” while appearing on The Crystal Maze on Channel 4. We regularly play local venues in the North East and North West and are looking forward to playing new venues in the UK including national festivals and into Europe.

What’s your best advice for someone wanting to get into what you do?

There’s generally a lot of responsibility placed on graduates coming in to site investigation industry with them generating the majority of data from sites. Site works are undertaken outdoors, all year round, in all weather conditions and can require a good amount of resourcefulness, initiative and physical effort. At Shadbolt Group we aim to support graduates by giving a good understanding of where and how that data is used further down the line and where the requirement for the data comes from, as well as the tools and training to undertake the works to meet the requirements of the role.

What do you enjoy most about working at Shadbolt Group?

Shadbolt Group is made up of a wide range of characters with diverse backgrounds and interests which gives a welcoming community feel and makes for good humoured and well attended social events. These can range from games nights and sporting events to going for a few drinks after work to curry nights, go-karting and beer festivals, let alone the popular Shadbolt Pie Day and lesser known Suet Friday events.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I’ve always enjoyed site investigation for the variety. No two days are the same, you could spend one week trial pitting and supervising drillers, and the next week working in five or six different places doing something different at each one, anywhere in the country.