I first encountered John at the engineering link in the 1990’s, later working alongside him there and at AEAT Rail and later on under contract to him during his time at RSSB. John always liked to rope me in on product audits to provide technical support particularly where power equipment and transmissions expertise was required. A memorable series of product audits which spring to mind was a quite detailed study of the supply chain for Class 91 driveline which took us to some far flung corners of the UK.

As others will testify, his rather zealous approach to his work did not always endear him to folk but I am pleased and honoured to recall that we seemed to ‘hit it off’ from the very start. He was very knowledgeable, a pure professional and very focussed on getting the job done. I found that some audits at third party sites could be difficult and quite adversarial at times. However, it was always reassuring to know that John as lead auditor always ‘had your back’ – no question.

I am very saddened to hear of John’s serious illness and at his passing and will miss his friendship, drive and dry humour. I offer my condolences to his loved ones. He will be missed.