People Spotlight:
David Weber

Meet David Weber! David is one of our longest serving members and plays a key role in managing our food waste recycling and liquid waste treatment businesses.

Hi David, tell us a bit about your career journey so far

In the hazy distant days before Scottish Water was formed, water and waste water services were managed by Scottish regional councils.  I started my own career in the water industry over 40 years go in what was then Strathclyde Regional Council.

Since then I’ve had various roles over the years – probably way too much to mention here.  Some of my key roles have included supervising the sewage maintenance team in the Clyde North area; managing repairs and installation of waste water infrastructure for the West of Scotland area; overseeing water and waste water connections for the developer community; and then latterly joining Horizons to manage our food and liquid waste businesses. It’s been an amazing journey – I’ve learned so much along the way, met some brilliant people and seen so many changes over the years.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I can honestly say no two days are ever the same and that’s what makes my job so interesting. I could be out and about meeting customers, supporting the team with various tasks, reviewing processes, working on tenders or helping out at our waste operational sites at Cowdenbeath or Deerdykes.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The variety of work, the people I meet and the opportunity to make service improvements for our customers.  Over the last couple of years, I’ve introduced a new system to make our service much more flexible and efficient.  I have a few more ideas on how we can further improve and I love that I get the freedom to make a difference.

What has been the biggest highlight of your experience so far?

I’m still here……

If you could invite anyone to a dinner party, alive or dead, who it be and why?                    

Neil Diamond to liven it up with a song or two, Ryan Reynold’s for the humour and Sofia Vergara (yeh, yeh it’s because she’s in one of my favourite programmes Modern Family).

What’s the last TV show you binged watched?                                                                   

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (because it’s absolutely superb – if you’ve watched it, you’ll understand)

What’s your favourite food and why?                                                                                      

I’ve enjoyed lots of great food and it’s hard to pick just one.  One food memory that really stands out though is having a ‘corn dog’ in Orlando. And it’s not because they’re nice to eat (if you’ve ever tried one, you’ll understand). Who wants to eat a hot dog wrapped in a pancake? My brother-in-law did! Having got lost on the interstate for nearly two hours, he grabbed a bite of the corn dog when he finally made it back.  By the look on his face we all knew he’d just tasted something completely and utterly rank….

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?                                                                       

Keep breathing….