Andrew Astley, chief engineer, Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah
ABOUT ANDREW
Before joining the Madinat Jumeirah in 2011 as chief engineer, Astley spent 23 years as an engineer in the Royal Navy. During his time at sea, Astley had to take on many challenges and learn life saving skills such as becoming a damage control training officer who developed and taught all members of the Royal Navy how to fight fires and save a sinking ship. He was also the auxiliaries and hotel services group director on HMS Chatham, providing the warship with electricity, water, sanitation, refrigeration and hydraulics in order to ensure the team residing on the ship could work and live properly as well as welcoming VIP guests such as Prince Charles.
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WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
After joining the hotel, Astley has taken on many projects to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness such as working with HR, laundry and contractors, to oversee the manufacture of a new washer system that was custom-built for the hotel comprising of a conveyer, tunnel washer, hydraulic press, and automatic feeder for 4 dryers. While structural changes to the walls and doorways had to be undertaken to remove the old dryer, the project took just 24 days to implement, with the new system producing a 38% reduction in cost, saving AED 936,842 in its first five months while processing 1200 Kg of laundry per hour. The engineering team were also tasked with coming up a new idea for the hotel’s award-winning and Friday brunch which could be designed and built in-house. The result was a gondola 7m long for Italian food that sits over a water feature and can accommodate three chefs with safety features to allow for live pasta and Thai cooking station. The team were able to save the hotel AED 25,000 by building in-house, while a sense of pride was instilled amongst the engineers in being able to showcase their skills.
WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?
“On 11 January I received an emergency call from Burj Al Arab Engineering Department to assist with a serious flooding that occurred at Majlis Al Bahar. It was a particularly stormy day coupled with an extremely high tide and high waves which had reached all the way to the footpath between Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah. I was asked for the aquarium team’s support to provide piping and pumps to assist with moving the water. I arranged this with the aquarium’s engineer and then headed to the location. I was shocked to see the amount of water that had flooded the area; the situation was far worse than I had anticipated. Luckily, Chief Engineer Andrew Astley, was present and had complete control of the situation coordinating teams from Mina A’Salam Hotel, Dar Al Masyaf Hotel, Al Qasr Hotel, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and Burj Al Arab. Andrew organised the teams to remove the water, and coordinated positioning of pumps and pipes to remove the water quickly and effectively.
“Upon arrival it was hard for me to visualize where to start but Andrew knew exactly what to do and the situation was quickly under control. The water level reduced at speed which allowed Majlis Al Bahar to return to normality. This event was a positive example of the team from each property coming together to work as one big team with a common goal in mind. Andrew should be congratulated for his calm and efficient control of the event as it was surely his knowledge, strategy and leadership that significantly reduced damage and allowed things to return to normal in the fastest possible time.” David Robinson, assistant aquarium operations manager, Burj Al Arab
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