Paddy Ryan
Transport Logistics Manager
"You don’t have to be the best but always be early, work hard and listen to advice."Paddy – whose real name is Martin but has been known as Paddy for as long as anyone can remember – has worked for TRAD for over 30 years. He has worked in various roles during his tenure and with his own hard work, the support of a number of mentors and vocational training courses funded by TRAD he has progressed to his current position. In the mid-eighties Paddy tried his hand in a number of jobs by simply following the lead of what his mates were doing, he worked for a transport company, did some labouring and even some mini-cabbing. But with each role Paddy found himself just ticking along and with no real interest in what he was doing, ready to turn his hand to the next opportunity as it arose but with no real plan.
Paddy was offered a position with TRAD as a scaffold labourer in late 1987 and was told in no uncertain terms that if he was no good he was out. He struck up an immediate rapport with his foreman Dickie Hackett and took the opportunity to learn as much as he could from him over the next 17 years, working hard and learning the trade.
Over time Paddy progressed to a fully fledged scaffolder, to running sites and then to a supervisor role, working with new mentors including Chris Smith and Lee Laws. In 2014 he was asked to take on his current role as Transport Logistics Manager. Paddy will be first to say that he is not an academic, and much prefers his learning to be on the job and more hands on practical training.
Working at TRAD has always provided Paddy with consistent employment, he has seen those that come and go to ‘chase the money’ but they ‘always come back’. Working at TRAD he finds his colleagues to be honest, approachable and transparent – just a few of the reasons he never felt the need to pursue employment anywhere but TRAD.
In Paddy’s own words, “the best advice I ever got was from my Dad, he told me that you don’t have to be the best but always be early, work hard and listen to advice. I gave the same advice to my son and I’m really proud of how well he is doing”.
