Les

Managing Director

After working for 28 years with the Decca Radar Company and Racal Decca Service Ltd.  I moved to Simrad Ltd and spent 13 years there ending up as Fishery and Fishery Research Manager responsible for the UK and Ireland markets.    In 2005, along with my wife Sheila, we established Echomaster Marine Ltd. and within one year we had 5 employees.    Today, Echomaster Marine ltd. has two offices, one in Buckie and one in Macduff, and over the two sites employ 10 people.    In 2007, Echomaster Marine Ltd acquired its own Leasing Company and renamed it Marine Leasing Ltd. 

What three things would you take to a desert island?

• A hammer to break the Coconuts
• Lots of cooking chocolate.
• Large cooking pot in which I would make my own Bounty bars.

What is the best advice that you have ever been given?     

Take a pride in everything you do, and you will enjoy your work and inspire others.

Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach work, and why?   

 My Grandfather.    He constantly told me that if a job is worth doing then it is worth doing well.

What do you do to turn things around if you are having a bad day?     

There will always be days when things don’t go to plan, but remember you are not alone, and your work colleagues are there to support you and the sun will shine again.

What's the best place you have travelled to for work?     

Norway. The sheer scale of the fjords and beauty of the countryside always amaze me.   
Japan.    Beauty on a different scale and the sheer buzz of life there.

What is your proudest work achievement?     

 In 1986 I spent six weeks working in Burma as it was then, mostly in Rangoon, and a one-week sea trial in the Andaman Sea where two of us were to be locked in a cabin claimed to be free of rats, should pirates try to come on board.   The job was sponsored by the FAO as part of a UN project, and I was asked to go there as no-one could be found to take up the post due to the political situation in Burma at the time.

What would we most likely find you doing at the weekend?    

In the garden, or with my wife and dog cruising on Loch Ness.

What is your guilty pleasure?    

Chocolate!

What inspires you?   

Taking pride in what I do and inspiring others to adopt the same philosophy.

What is your proudest personal achievement?     

Giving new employees the opportunity to develop their work skills and introduce them to the diverse world of Marine Electronics.

Are you a dog or a cat person?   

I love both dogs and cats as they each offer a unique style of friendship and put their entire faith in you.

What is your biggest fear?     

My lack of knowledge on computer related technologies.    Message Les