Military veteran is finalist in major national awards

British Army veteran, Gareth John, who has recently based his firm at Plymouth Science Park, has been shortlisted for a top accolade at the prestigious national BSI Resettlement Awards, being held in Manchester on Tuesday 31 October.

Gareth trained to be a surveyor when he was in the Army and saw two tours of duty in Afghanistan where he served with 6 Rifles and 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment respectively.

Having left military service, in 2014, he established G John Surveys, which has a growing reputation across the south of England with a newly opened office in London.

He is also south west ambassador for ‘X Forces’ – a Community Interest Company which mentored and helped him to develop his business.

As such, he aims to set up networking events for former service personnel to assist their development.

G John Surveys has been involved in a number of key projects – from working on the Hinkley Point development through to assisting flood defence work on the River Exe and also in Weston Super Mere.

The company’s expertise extends from topographical surveys and site engineering through to providing ecological, arboricultural and asbestos surveys. They also accurately measure traffic volume across the region (something which is crucial for planners).

“We use road tubes to measure the volume of traffic, speed and vehicle type which predominately use any particular stretch of road, as well as cameras to record junctions, roundabouts and car-parks to ascertain turning movements.”

“Plymouth Science Park is a convenient location for any business,” says Gareth.

“I grew up in Estover and have seen PSP expand over the past 20 years. It brings in funding and money to the local community and assists in the development of science and technology within schools and also at a university level.”

“PSP helps to enthuse the next generation of engineers and encourages women into the industry, which is crucial. Diversity creates a stronger team. You need people from a different set of backgrounds so they can come up with ideas and solutions for a range of engineering issues.”

Gareth is looking forward to the awards’ evening on Tuesday and is delighted to have been named as a finalist for ‘The BSI Award for Service Leaver of the Year.’

“It will be a real honour to be there,” says Gareth. “If I win then I will be truly humbled. To reach the finals is an achievement in its own right. There are so many service leavers in the UK and I feel the event will allow me to proudly represent the ethos that is working within all of them.”