Barry - County Fire Officer and Chief Executive

You’ve come along way since you first started.

Yes, I guess I have. When I left school at 16 and joined what was then the City of Manchester Fire Service, I didn’t exactly imagine I’d get to where I am today. But then that’s the great thing about a career in the fire service – you never know where it might take you.

Can you talk us through your initial development?

I became a fully-fledged firefighter at 18, and then spent the next five years gaining operational experience in a number of stations. At around 23 or 24 I started to think about my options. At that time, these included staying on the operational side, moving into fire safety, or joining one of the support teams. I decided to stick with the operational side, and stepped up into the role of Leading Fireman (what we call a Crew Manager these days). And from there, I steadily moved up through the ranks.

Has a firefighter’s career path changed much down the years?

Well, when I started out, you had to spend a reasonable amount of time in each rank before you got promoted. Now, if you show you have the competencies to move up a level, you can progress a lot quicker.

Also, until fairly recently, the service used to be purely focused on responding to emergencies. There’s now a much bigger emphasis on fire prevention, which in itself opens up a new range of opportunities. For example, our crews spend a lot of time interacting with people in the community – whether that’s carrying out Home Fire Risk Assessments or visiting schools to give presentations. So, as well as the chance to develop their interpersonal skills, they get to directly influence the safety of the communities in which they live.

What motivated you to keep moving up?

It wasn’t ambition as such. I just felt that, no matter what role I was in, I could always contribute at the next level. I tended to measure myself against my peers too. So if they were doing well, I wanted to match them.

What are the main challenges you now face?

Firstly, we need to keep building on our fire safety initiatives. It’s made a real difference to all the communities we work in, and I’m very keen for that to continue. Then there’s the development of Manchester itself. You only need to look at the skyline to realise that we’re going to have to adapt, and learn how to deal with buildings on a much larger scale. Plus there’s the ongoing threat of terrorism, and all the challenges that brings.

Diversity is also a key issue. Throughout my career I’ve been lucky to work with a wide range of people. But if we’re to meet the needs of the communities we protect, we need to have people from those communities in the service. It’s up to me, and everyone else, to ensure that people of all backgrounds and cultures realise just how rewarding a career in the fire service can be.

Plenty to be getting on with then?

Indeed. I’ve been in this job five years, and they’ve probably been the busiest five years of my career. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. In fact, I’m really looking forward to what we can go on to achieve in the future.