Ryan McCutcheon has never been one to stand still, so it should come as little surprise that the 27-year old was promoted to the role of supervisor at our Selkirk depot just one month after joining SRL as an operative. Ryan, who is a trained mechanical engineer, has been with SRL for three years now, and has recently taken over the role of supervisor of our Cumbernauld depot – our busiest depot in Scotland.

“Before joining SRL, I’d been working as a field support engineer for a fibre company, providing advice and support for customers, and I saw a job had come up to join SRL,” says Ryan. “I had a keen interest in the traffic management industry, so I was delighted when I was offered the role as an operative. One month in, I became supervisor at Selkirk and then went on to be float supervisor, supporting five depots in the region. It all happened very quickly.”

Ensuring that all jobs go out on time and fulfilling customer requests as soon as they come in, Ryan now manages a team of seven people. “We’re on call 24/7, 365 days a year for customers, so I’m always busy,” says Ryan. “I take around 130 calls a day and look after 50 customers, so I am constantly on my phone, juggling multiple jobs and arranging the workload for my team.”

The best team

Ryan praises his team, which he says is outstanding at looking after every customer’s traffic management needs. “I’m proud to have some of SRL’s best operatives on my team,” he reveals. “We are a close-knit bunch and we work very hard to deliver a first-class service. Of course, we couldn’t do it without the amazing support of our administrator Lorna Slicer - she holds the region together just brilliantly.” 

Ryan has spent many hours out on the road putting lights out and attending call-outs, but is now more focused on managing his team and making sure they are fully trained and up to speed on all of our products and systems.

“I’m not out in the field as much now, but I’m always happy to get out there and help the team if they need me,” says Ryan. “It’s a team effort at SRL and everyone supports each other, so I will always attend call-outs if I’m needed.”

Highly customer-focused, Ryan clearly has strong relationships with his customers, ensuring that they have all the SRL equipment they need when they need it. “Our customers are really important to us and we do everything we can to look after them. If they’re happy, then I’m happy,” says Ryan. “We do set ourselves ambitious targets to deliver to customers and find kit to get a job out on the road, but that’s what drives me.”

Ryan also supports our other depots in the region, including Selkirk, Carlisle, Aberdeen and Inverness. “We had a recent job for Aberdeen City Council who needed some equipment from us over the weekend,” says Ryan. “We didn’t have a supervisor available, so I took on the job and moved the kit to Aberdeen myself. That’s how we work at SRL – we do what we need to do for our customers.”

Class Act

Ryan recalls another late afternoon call from one of his biggest customers when he and regional manager Stephen Daly immediately stepped in to assist. “Our customer, Class One Traffic Management, needed 16 temporary lights for the next morning, so Stephen and I drove to our headquarters in Middlewich to source the lights and take them to site in Glasgow,” he adds.

Ryan has worked closely with Class One on another major project in Scotland - the landmark new tramline scheme in Edinburgh city centre. “This is a large and prestigious project and it has been challenging to link our temporary UTMC (Urban Traffic Management and Control) into the City of Edinburgh Council’s permanent UTMC, whilst also adapting to constantly changing temporary traffic layouts,” says Ryan. 

As well as providing UTMC technology, Ryan and his team also supplied Class One with more than 50 sets of temporary traffic lights, ranging from two, three and four-way systems, to help keep traffic flowing through the city during the project.

 “This has been a great project to work on,” says Ryan. “SRL and Class One have worked really well together to keep the project running smoothly, bringing in additional equipment when needed and moving lights as the scheme develops.”

Proudest moment

Ryan’s proudest achievement at SRL has been opening our 23rd depot in Selkirk in 2019 and taking it from a standing start to a busy strategic site in a short space of time. “Putting Selkirk on the map was a real triumph for me and it’s been brilliant to see how much the depot has grown in just two years.”

So, what motivated Ryan to move house to take up his post as supervisor in Cumbernauld three months ago? “The scope and variety of the job was really attractive to me. I want to help more customers to grow and this new role gave me the opportunity to do this,” he says. “SRL is the best in the business and I hope to make Cumbernauld the best depot it can be.”

We have no doubt that you will achieve your ambition, Ryan. With the hard work and commitment of people like Ryan behind SRL, we’re proud to constantly raise the bar in the industry.

Our rapid growth and expansion means we have opportunities for more brilliant people to join the team. If you’d like to find out more, please email recruitment@srl.co.uk.