Interview with Neil Hallet-Parr

“Having some patience to get the best result”


Neil Hallett-Parr started his career at Yokogawa 18 months ago, after working approximately 20 years in the field of Power, Oil & Gas in the automation industry. His first project, after finishing university in 1990, was the installation of a power station in China. From there he developed his all-round expertise on projects in the UK and throughout the world in the on- and off-shore world.

At the age of 48, and very experienced, he is now working as a Principal Lead Engineer at Yokogawa’s office at Runcorn in the United Kingdom. His daily concerns are with the large DCS industrial automation systems, which are used in the Oil and Gas industry, Chemical Industry or the Energy sector.

Due to his position Neil is very much involved in the international Hardware Standards Group of Yokogawa taking care of the uniformity and the quality level of hardware related issues. For now, Neil is focused on a new project for an effluent treatment plant with some of his time spent working for the North Sea Development team using his Brownfield upgrade skills to promote a Yokogawa solution.

“Working for Yokogawa I feel a lot of appreciation for my work”, Neil states. “Apart from the warm atmosphere within the company, I experience a lot of respect as an engineer and have a great deal of admiration for our technical staff. As an external representative of Yokogawa I am very proud because of the quality of our products and the way we respect our clients’ requirements”.

Outside of work, Neil dedicates himself to sports, like running and cycling. “I am about to take part in an 80 mile cycling trip; currently training by cycling the 40 miles to work and back.” His passions are music and gardening. Proudly he explains that he and his family enjoy the fresh vegetables obtained from their own garden. “For gardening and other passions including work, the technique is the same; it requires some patience and care to get the best results.”

Neil expects his actual position as a Principal Lead Engineer to expand to a more senior role. “However I still don’t fancy a project management role. I prefer to be active in the field as an engineer keeping one hand on the technical aspects”. He would certainly recommend young people to choose control engineering as a technical career working with products and processes like Yokogawa’s. “I realize that until recently engineering didn’t have a glamorous image, but that trend is changing. Now young people are starting to realize that engineering provides excellent prospects. On one hand engineering is creative, on the other hand you get an excellent and well rewarded career in a company like Yokogawa. With regard to Yokogawa, I would say: come and join us!”