Gert-Jan Boers

"Although I now work as a Supervisor for Bayards UP that is not how it started for me more than 3 years ago. I was originally hired as Quality Controller. This job fitted well with my earlier career, because before Bayards I worked for about 10 years for a large steel construction company, for the majority of my time there as QC Inspector. I have always enjoyed doing the kind of work that comes with this job and I have been able to work on several amazing projects at Bayards. The project that stands head and shoulders above all other projects is surely ‘the Fennek’ that Bayards produced for the Ministry of Defence. Since you are working on a product for the Ministry of Defence, you literally have to work with military precision. The tolerances on such products are very small, so that makes the work very challenging.

Having worked as Quality Controller for about 2.5 years, I indicated that I wanted to broaden my horizons. Then internally we looked at what was possible and I started a kind of training course within Bayards. The reason for this was to gain more experience for the helideck market, since that was the direction I wanted to go in. After six months experience in production, I ended up at Bayards UP, the Service & Maintenance division within the Bayards Group. The idea here was to strengthen the team for two days a week as a work planner, but it soon became clear that there was a need for more hands-on support. So before I knew it, I was working on a big pipe laying vessel to upgrade the helideck. After that job a series of projects followed in, among other countries, England, Dubai and Norway. Then when it turned out that both Bayards UP and I felt good about how it had all progressed, I officially joined UP as a Supervisor. I really have the taste for it now and I travel all over the world for Bayards UP. The fact that I really get to see something of the world, really appeals to me. My 'office' is therefore never the same, sometimes onshore, sometimes offshore. I also really appreciate the independent nature of the work I do as Supervisor. You are often on your own and you have to make do with what you have. You have to be able to improvise well, because even if you try to prepare yourself for everything, in practice it often requires a slightly different approach. It’s not always easy, but in the end it gives me a great sense of satisfaction when I am able to deliver a high-quality product."