ceda is delighted to announce updates to its Technical Support Group (TSG) membership.

ceda’s TSG is one of the key elements of the organisation. It is made up of knowledgeable people from both ceda Members and Partners who have areas of experience and expertise that enable the group to address virtually any technical issue that may be seen as a problem for Members.

Ben Hatherley, Director of Hatherley Commercial Services Limited, has taken the helm of the TSG after the passing of past Chair, Nick Archer, in March of this year. Ben was Nick’s Vice Chair and now takes the natural step into the lead position. Ben said, “Stepping into the role of TSG Chair is with mixed emotions. Having served as Nick Archer’s Vice for a relatively short period of time, I came to respect him immensely for the work and enthusiasm he put into the role of Chair. It is my determination to be as committed and energetic and hope to do him proud as Chair of the TSG.

“We have a fantastic group of Board Members with a great deal of knowledge and experience within the technical and service side of our industry and I am very honoured and excited to be a part of it.”

Two new Members have also joined the Group.

Greg Archer, MD of ContiQuip, brings a wealth of experience of both coal face service working, as well as service and company management. Of joining the TSG Greg said, “I’m pleased to be joining ceda’s Technical Support Group and work alongside other knowledgeable and passionate Members to represent the technical and service side of our industry. It’s great to be involved and influence the work of this great resource to the benefit of all ceda Members.”

Nick Falco, Product and Technical Director of Mechline, has a long career in the industry. Most recently he has been working on behalf of ceda in various groups dealing with Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG). Nick said, “In addition to my FOG work, I give up my time as one of the UK experts that form part of the technical committees within the BSI working groups covering GSE/42 flexible gas hose and valve standards. This work ensures I can feedback on legislation and standard changes and have a voice not only for the UK industry but more widely from a European perspective as a UK expert on behalf of BSI for CEN within working group technical committee 236. I also work as part of the FEA FOG group and the newly created Grease Equipment Manufacturers group (GEMS), which again will help to share information, standards and legislation back through to ceda Members.

“I’ve enjoyed working in the industry for the last 34 years and would like to assist in mentoring the next generation of the industry.  My role at Mechline brings the opportunity to share our expertise with our distributor partners. “

In recent years the group has worked hard to produce many useful Guidance and Standard documents which are readily available to ceda Member engineers and teams working at the coal face of the industry via the new ceda4 App. There is also a library of training videos covering plumbing, electrical and gas requirements for site installation works. The TSG will be helping with the further development of new content to ensure full coverage of the many technical training needs of ceda Members.

The group usually holds four meetings each year, with two of them being open, face-to-face meetings where all members are invited. The next TSG meeting will be on Wednesday 6^th November.  It will be an open meeting held at the premises of Maidaid Halcyon.