Back in June 1999, I was introduced to Colin whilst he was working in one of Pitt St, Glasgow Police HQ comms room. He was described to me then by my fellow Network Officer, Jimmy Miller as the network guru. It didn’t take long for me to realise just how true that description was. Colin was undoubtedly the top network engineer in the country. He had an incredible grasp of the theory and a rare ability to bridge the gap between how things should work and how they actually worked.

Over the last 27 years, Colin was my go-to person for everything network-related. I followed him to every company he moved to, knowing I could rely on his expertise. There were countless occasions where Colin stepped in to help without hesitation. He never complained; he simply rolled up his sleeves and got the job done.

One incident that will always stay with me happened in 2005 when a major network fault hit during peak business hours at our Govan datacentre. The situation was urgent, and Colin agreed to be picked up by two traffic cops from his office on the east side of Glasgow, allowing him to sail through the rush-hour traffic.

Upon arrival, Colin quickly resolved the issue. When I offered him a lift back, he declined. He explained that he wanted his car at Govan, not knowing how long he might be there. So, he ended up sitting in the front passenger seat of the lead traffic car, blues and twos, while his BMW X5 was driven inches behind by the second officer. Thankfully, the only hit was to his fuel tank, which his fuel card covered!

I always looked forward to seeing Colin in our Helen Street office. He had a varied selection of herbal teabags and always took time to read out the different flavours on offer. He was the one who sold me on Centre Parcs holidays, which my two youg daughters loved,  and we shared a mutual appreciation for cars—though Colin’s taste was definitely more luxurious than mine. I’ll miss our chats about the various tools and car accessories we added to our collections, from cement mixers to welders to car polish. In addition to being the network guru, Colin loved a laugh, making him a great fun to be around. Recently, when we were both working from home and lunch time was approaching Colin would often let me know what he had planned for lunch and diner. Regular favourites being poached eggs on toast or soup with home made croutons (in the toaster) for lunch, then perhap lamb chops from Costco for tea. On March 6th, after i mentioned that i didn’t think poached eggs featured much nowadays,  he sent me confimation that poached eggs were very much a thing,  then follow up with a Whatsapp picture of what looked to my mind like perfect poached eggs and a message “I told you i was doing it :-)”. Needless to say my efforts to replicate croutons in the toaster failed miserably and I never worked up the courage to even attempt a poached egg.

I learned so much from Colin over the years, and we were in contact most days. Without his help and friendship over the nearly 27 years I knew him, I would have been lost. Many of us who had the privilege of working with Colin will feel the same way.

Colin’s legacy will live on in the stories we share and the lessons we learned from him. He will be greatly missed.