Meet the MiAlgae Changemakers! 🤝

Brian Ford - Production Operator

Our Production Operator, Brian Ford, gives ‘a little less conversation and a little more action’ in his role at MiAlgae, gets ‘all shook up’ by his busy family, and monitors his colleagues’ hair – but ‘that’s alright’!

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐞.
My career (starting wayyy back in 1989 at Candleriggs market in Glasgow) has been blessed with variety. As well as having experience in Process, Continuous Improvement, Health and Safety, Production Planning and Operations, I am also a fully qualified Barber and nothing makes me more frustrated than watching my colleagues’ hair go like an abandoned allotment!

My current role at MiAlgae is Production Operator; the core duties are preparing the vessels for all associated activities, monitoring our processes, and operating the HMI screen. The position requires me to remain fluid and prepared for in-situ changes to plans; this gives a great insight into the techniques and combinations available to me when looking for a solution to any issues that may arise.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐞?
The work environment is a great blend of relaxed but with high expectations in achieving the goals for the week. As a group we strive to see progress no matter how small. The team dynamic is fantastic and although part of a three-person shift, we all regard ourselves as being part of the one team with a collective desire to support each other.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐞?
I am excited about how far our model will progress and develop, and would love to see if we can diversify the product to service other sectors and industries!

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐤?
As a father of four (27, 23, 17 and 15) I’m always on alert to deal with catastrophes raging from 'last chocolate digestive conflict mediation' to 'can you come to my flat to catch a spider?'. But what really keeps me on my tootsies is monitoring my bookworm wife's rate of hardback purchasing which, if left unchecked, wouldn't leave us enough room in the house to boil an egg!

𝐅𝐮𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 
I was a whisker away from being called Elvis. The day he passed, I decided to do a bit of parkour in my mum's tum causing a major false alarm and general rumpus which was seen as a 'sign' and decided if I did put in an appearance, I was to be named after the King of Rock and Roll. As fate would have it, I arrived five days later to a high-brow hyphenated name that assured I was liberated from my playpiece and tuckshop money daily all through Primary school!