Metro Rod Newport and Hereford

Colin became a franchisee in 2006, he shares the role of Director with his son Ben. Colin has grown the business from a single van operating out of his garage into the business we are today. Colin now enjoys helping out in the business 2 days a week where he undertakes a variety of jobs, from van and jetting unit repairs, vehicle fit-outs and general maintenance and of tools and equipment.

Colin is a proud grandfather to Maggie, Penelope and George, who keep him very busy when he is away from the business.

Ben started working at the franchise in 2006 under his father, Colin, as an engineer where he developed a vast technical knowledge and a large array of skills. Ben became the franchisee in 2012, and since then has been the driving force behind the growth of the business since then.

Under Ben’s management, the franchise has expanded, incorporating the Gloucester area. In 2016 Ben won the HSBC BFA Young Franchisee of the Year Award.

Now Ben’s work includes managing all members of staff, finances, future growth, and investment.

Ben is an avid swimmer and enjoys playing golf. Since Ben was young, he has always had an interest in business.

In his spare time, Ben enjoys walking with his spaniel and wife and going on adventurous holidays.

Dafydd joined our business at the start of 2014 and has since taken up the responsibility of dealing with all our tender applications, as well as a range of other day to day management responsibilities. Dafydd has transformed our franchise with his tender successes having won numerous contracts since joining the business, these include:

·         Reactive drainage maintenance for Newport City Homes

·         Reactive drainage maintenance for Bron Afon Community Housing

·         Maintenance of sewage treatment plants for Monmouthshire Housing Association

·         Maintenance of sewage treatment plants for Powys County Council

·         Maintenance of grease traps for Aneurin Bevan Health Board

·         Deep cleaning of town centers for Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

His greatest success came in August 2018 when the business secured the wastewater network operations contract for Welsh Water in the Herefordshire and Powys areas. Our work involves all reactive blockages and follow on works, including CCTV mainline surveying, de-silting, root cutting.

After starting as an engineer in Metro Rod in 2012, Craig spent the early part of his employment learning the hands-on side of the drainage industry.

The training as an engineer served him well, as Craig now manages the work conducted by engineers, and trains the engineers in health and safety as well as much more. He is also responsible for the continuous allocation of work to the engineers.

The most common question Craig hears from customers is ‘If I flush will everything overflow?’ To which the answer is normally no.

Craig’s favourite sport is golf, but he is a huge fan of Newcastle FC.

A fun fact about Craig us that he has never been able to whistle and still can’t!

Clive started working for Metro Rod in April 2019. The main responsibilities that Clive does are review practices of the workplace, identify potential risks especially when meeting with engineers to maintain regulatory knowledge and maintenance of their vehicle.

The main question he is asked by engineers is whether they can have some more consumables like gloves etc.

Clive enjoys supporting Wales in the rugby, Manchester United in football and following his grandsons sporting career with Swansea City FC.

Clive has been married for 31 years ad loves watching sport, walking, and gardening in his spare time.

Noel has worked for Metro Rod since 2012 and takes a great deal of pride in always delivering great customer service. As a senior operative, Noel is known for helping out other engineers and taking younger engineers under his wing in order to train them. As a former miner, his experience comes in handy for tackling most of our excavation work.

Our phone and social media are always buzzing with praise from our customers due to Noel’s excellent work. As a result, Noel has won BFA Engineer of the Year 3 times since joining the team.

Noel’s most common question is whether he could help out on a job that needs someone with more experience- which Noel is always keen to help with.

During his time out of work, Noel enjoys sleeping, watching rugby and spending time with his wife caravaning in Brecon.

Daniel joined Metro Rod in 2015 as an office assistant. Daniel has worked hard to become a key member of the office team. Therefore Daniel is now primarily responsible for scheduling engineers and jobs they need to complete along with incoming and outgoing calls to customers and engineers.

The most frequent question Daniel is asked by customers is for job updates.

Daniels favourite sport is rugby and his favourite team in football is Manchester United. A fun fact about Daniel is he once microwaved a cabbage which he then ate warm (ew!)

In his downtime, Daniel likes to relax by sleeping, going to the gym and watching Netflix documentaries.

In 2018, Daniel joined the team due to an increase in work thanks to Metro Rod’s win of the Welsh Water contract. Daniel also plays a pivotal role in the management of our day to day work received, liaising with Welsh Water clients and our engineers.

Daniel said that his most asked question from customers would be ‘Where are you’ talking about the engineers.

Daniel enjoys swimming and supporting Wales in the rugby. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys creating new recipes in the kitchen and doing cardio in the gym.

A fun fact about Daniel is that he used to teach spin classes in the gym he worked in previously.

Shannon started working in Metro Rod in late 2019 after graduating from university with a First Class Hons Degree. Shannon’s roles include overseeing and developing campaigns, conducting research into the target audiences, presenting ideas and strategies and maintaining social media updates and responses.

A fun fact about Shannon is that she cannot cook to save her life, as she has blown up 2 microwaves already!

In her spare time, Shannon enjoys hiking with her dog, drawing and running a blog where she reviews films, books and other activities she has taken part in.

Lauren began working at Metro Rod in October 2019 after working in sales for 10 years. Lauren’s job entails generating new leads for potential clients, building relations with existing and potential clients, cold calling, and spreading awareness of the business.

Lauren’s most asked question from customers is ‘How competitive are your prices?’

A fun fact about Lauren is that she once beat 5 adult men in a drinking competition while on holiday in Egypt. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys shopping, spending time with family and friends and studying maths at the Open University.

Darren has worked in Metro Rod since August 2019 and operates one of our fleet of tankers. Before Darren worked at Metro Rod he used to work on the concrete. However, since getting a job here, he has been trained to the highest standards of all things drainage including upgrading from a drainage engineer to a tanker operative. A tanker operative will be responsible for the uplift of sewage from a variety of different tanks to include cesspits, treatment plants, septic tanks, and interceptors. 

Darren enjoys going on mini weekend breaks when he’s not at work and sleeping. Darren enjoys activities such as clay shooting while not at work.

Llwys has been a member of the team since March 2014 after beginning as a general assistant. Llwys was trained by Metro Rod via an inhouse scheme. Throughout the scheme, Llyws built up his skills becoming one of our youngest engineers until last year.

Llwys specialises in operating our vacuum tankers. And has developed a vast amount of knowledge in carrying out high-pressure water jetting of large diameter pipework along with the maintenance of sewage treatment plants.

Llwys isn’t into sports apart from watching car racing.

In his spare time Llwys loves to go around the country to different car shows varying from vintage to supercars.

Bryan started working in Metro Rod on the 28th of January 2019. Bryans’s work includes working personally with clients to ensure that their requirements are fulfilled and expectations met. This could be through their drainage problems being fixed or emptied etc.

Bryan loves football, mentioning to everyone how much he enjoys watching or listening to it. His team is Cardiff City who he has supported since he was young.

In his spare time, Bryan enjoys watching Cardiff City play and winding down by walking his dog, a Cavachon. If Bryan were to pick a holiday, he would always pick somewhere with sun and no activities. Bryan prefers to sunbathe at the pool and beach or walk around the resort.

Steve started in Metro Rod in 2019 and has previous work as a drainage engineer in different firms throughout the country. Steve’s work as a drainage engineer includes combining an in-depth understanding of physics and computer-based design tools to efficiently clear the job at hand. Steve has to liaise with the office staff regarding job type, place, and timings.

Steve is a big rugby fan although if he were to support a team his initial response would be the football team, West Ham.

Steve enjoys spending time with his family and socialising with friends down the local or at games that he frequents. When Steve has time off his favorite thing to do is go on holiday with his kids and wife. His holiday normally includes somewhere hot and close like Spain as he doesn’t enjoy flying although he has been to Florida once!

Ben started working in Metro Rod in 2019 where he works continuously on the recycling tanker. Ben is trained in controlling the recycler and making sure it is working correctly before a job. Ben makes sure the recycling system of the recycler allows him to vacuum and jet at the same time. In other words, now Ben and other engineers would not have to find somewhere to refill with clean water as the recycler does that for them.

Ben’s favourite sport is motocross due to it being fast and exciting. 

Ben has a young daughter who he loves to take out on her quad bike in his spare time, although she is still getting the hang of it.

Terry started in the business in 2019 with no previous experience in the drainage industry. However, since joining Metro Rod, Terry has learned a lot about the trade and how to do CCTV surveys, high-pressure water jetting and much more.

At the moment Terry is learning how to operate the recycling tanker, which is much like a regular tanker but is more powerful. Therefore, can clean bigger or dirtier pipes faster and without wasting water.

While on the job Terry hears the question ‘How is the job going?’ a lot! As we need to know what is happening at a job and how it is being dealt with.

Terry enjoys watching rugby where he supports Cardiff Blues and Wales. Terry has 2 young daughters who he loves spending time with when he’s not working. One thing terry loves is taking his daughters on holidays to new and exciting places.

Steve has worked at Metro Rod since 2016. As a workshop assistant, Steve aids the engineers and compliance manager by completing manufacturing activities including operative specific machinery, measuring components and assisting to manage inventory of tools and equipment. Steve’s work also puts him into the yard as well as the warehouse.

Steve enjoys watching football and supports Cardiff City and Manchester United. Steve watches a lot of football in his spare time as it’s his favourite way to unwind.

Steve has been married for over 25 years and has 3 children.

Neil has become an important member of our engineer team as he is always available to help an engineer whenever required.

Mark has been with the business almost from its very beginning! He has seen and done it all within the drainage industry and is currently serving as an engineer’s assistant, helping out with his extensive drainage knowledge.

Gethin started his 3-year apprenticeship in September 2019. Throughout the apprenticeship, Gethin will learn far more than unblocking drains, including the latest iTouch CCTV reporting software and how to use a robot CCTV crawler survey system.

Gethin chose to do an apprenticeship as he believed he would enjoy it more than if he were to carry on with his education. 

In 3 years Gethin sees himself as a qualified drainage engineer who is well trained and highly competent to take on any job that comes his way.

In his spare time, Gethin likes to take part in physical activities including playing rugby for his local team.

Matthew started at Metro Rod in September 2019 on a 3-year apprenticeship. During the apprenticeship, Matthew will be training in home emergency plumbing surveys, operations with Tanker Jetting units and excavation. Matthew chose to do an apprenticeship as he sees it as a great start to his working life and an opportunity to develop as a person. 

In 3 years, Matthew sees himself still working at Metro Rod but as a highly-skilled and experienced drainage engineer with many qualifications to his name.

In his spare time, Matthew enjoys playing all different types of sport, especially football and golf.