Amaro is entering a new era with Managing Director Micky Ewart in the driving seat.
Michael ‘Micky’ Ewart is bringing 30 years of experience to bear in his role as the managing director of Amaro.
The Kent-based business is well-known as a leading provider of specialist signalling, while the company has a growing reputation in the LV, HV and OLE sectors. Around 60 per cent of Amaro’s work is delivered directly for Network Rail, while its Tier 1 clients include Dyer & Butler, Morgan Sindall, BAM, Kier and Osborne.
Much of Amaro’s work is currently delivered in the South East, Wessex and Anglia routes. Now, having overseen a successful 12 months of contract delivery and business growth during the pandemic, Micky firmly believes Amaro is entering a new era, with a big role to play in delivering for the UK’s rail network.
Micky, who took the helm in late 2019 after a year as Amaro’s Operations Director, said: “Yes, people may already know the Amaro name but we’re a different business now. We have a different set of values, a different attitude, vision and mission. We’ve brought in a number of new faces to bolster all levels of the operation, making some serious investments in people and the business as a whole.
“While we have ambitions when it comes to growth, our primary focus is building our reputation and becoming known as the most highly skilled, technical, and innovative signalling and E&P rail company in the UK, with engineering excellence at the heart of everything we do.”
The journey of a lifetime
Micky’s journey as a railwayman commenced when, having left school in his hometown of Newcastle, he saw an advert in the jobs section of the Evening Chronicle looking for British Rail apprentices. He openly admits he fully expected to complete his ONC and then go off and do something completely different. But it didn’t quite work out like that. He remained on the tools, following his stint at British Rail with jobs at Balfour Beatty and Jarvis, before heading to Network Rail, by which time he had completed his MSc, and was promoted to Infrastructure Maintenance Engineer.
After a former colleague from Jarvis offered him a role as Operations Director at Giffen, Micky played a significant part in turning that business’s fortunes around, after which it was purchased by Renew Holding’s under the umbrella of Amco, the company being renamed AmcoGiffen.
Micky remained at AmcoGiffen for two more years before joining Amaro in 2018.
Marking a new chapter in the firm’s history, Amaro has recently opened a brand-new office for 24 of their leadership and managerial team in Stevenage. Also retaining its current Rochester HQ, this second facility will allow the business to venture into new geographical territory, given the close proximity of Stevenage to the London North Eastern and East Midlands Route.
Clearly the company is well-positioned to bring its engineering excellence to a host of CP6, CP7 and HS2 projects.
We’re in this together
As every good business knows, it’s its people that make a company successful. To that end, Micky places a great deal of his focus on the health, happiness and wellbeing of his team.
Every Thursday afternoon at Amaro a Safety Stand-Down takes place, providing the opportunity to talk openly and honestly. A Control Room meeting on Tuesdays allows for conversations across the business.
Something else building the Amaro team spirit is a Strava group that was set up to raise funds for the Railway Benefit Fund, with Amaro staff aiming to run an incredible 18,858 miles, raising thousands of pounds to support rail workers and families in need.
Photo credit: Amaro
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