Nobby Clarke of E&S wins first APEA Personal Contribution to Industry Award
Eric (Nobby) Clarke, Chairman of his Brize Norton based family business, won the inaugural and prestigious Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA*) Personal Contribution to Industry Award as ‘the individual who has shown the greatest dedication and drive to improve national standards, engineering practices and operational procedures within the petroleum industry’. The award was presented at the Associations gala dinner held in Telford on Thursday 11th October 2007 to the acclaim of all his peers.
It is fitting that this respected body, representing all quarters of the petroleum industry, have honoured Nobby’s 30 years of dedicated service in providing innovative solutions to fuel retailers and storage companies leak detection and loss control issues.
Nobbys’ passion for engineering innovation (initially gained in the 1960’s as an apprentice at Kings Motors in Oxford, owned by legendary racing driver Mike Halewoods’ father, Sidney) led him and his wife Sue to start their own business designing and building petrol stations. From 1995, with son Andrew and son in law Nigel now heavily involved, they specialised in testing the integrity of underground fuel tanks and have grown to be a leading provider of such services, with most of the major petroleum and hypermarket brands as customers.
Today, E&S employ 15 skilled technicians covering tank, line and vapour recovery testing using MassTech diagnostic systems, conduct road tanker inspection and testing to the latest CDG 2007 regulations, detect leaks in underground pipes and provide fuel polishing and tank cleaning services. They are recognised as industry experts in their specialist field and Nobby is justifiably proud of the contribution he, his close family and team of dedicated technicians have made to creating a customer oriented and friendly business, at the forefront of technical know how in their chosen fields.
*APEA - background
The APEA, founded 49 years ago, is a UK based organisation drawing membership from all quarters of the petroleum industry, including Regulators, Government Authorities and oil companies, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, service and installation organisations, training establishments and many others, It is seen to be unique in representing all sides of the industry and in providing a forum for debate and the generation of technical guidance.
