NEWS 10 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS April/May 2026 www.hpmag.co.uk Leading industrial boiler specialist, Cochran, has appointed Leigh Freeman as Head of People and Culture. Based at its headquarters in Newbie in South-West Scotland, Leigh will lead on the company’s recruitment, people strategy, talent development and culture. She brings more than 30 years’ experience in HR and recruitment to this newly created role and holds an MA in Human Resource Management, a NEBOSH general certificate, and is a qualified workplace mediator and Fellow of the CIPD (FCIPD). Most recently Leigh worked at Make UK, a membership organisation for the manufacturing industry where she provided HR consultancy to members. She oversaw the full HR function - from delivering targeted leadership training to guiding businesses through complex organisational change and site closures - and worked with owner-led companies, SMEs and global organisations. Leigh has also held senior in-house roles including Head of People and HR Manager positions in manufacturing and construction organisations. Leigh’s expertise and strategic outlook will benefit Cochran as she spearheads aligning the company’s talent strategy with business growth. She will lead the company’s people and culture strategy and help to enhance employee engagement and attract future talent. Leigh said: “I’m excited to be joining as Head of People and Culture in a new role that underlines Cochran’s commitment to putting its people first. “I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know and supporting the senior team over the last few years in a consultancy role and this has given me a clear insight into the company’s culture and ambitions. I’m really forward to building on the strong foundations already in place and helping to shape the next phase of growth. Tom Ritchie, Managing Director of Cochran commented “We are delighted to welcome Leigh to the team. From the work she has done with us to date it’s clear to see Leigh is highly motivated, with great integrity and a passion for people. “We are proud of our heritage and track record as a key employer in our region and are dedicated to providing opportunities and training to the next generation. Leigh’s appointment will help us to continue to attract and develop best in class talent.” Cochran bolsters its team with senior appointment Students shine in SATRO’s engineering challenge Students from across Surrey put their engineering skills to the test in a fastpaced STEM challenge support by Air Products. Teams from Hinchley Wood School (Key Stages 3 and 4) and Esher Sixth Form College (Key Stage 5) took the top positions across their key stages, emerging from heats involving almost 100 teams in this year’s SATRO Problem Solving Challenge. Supported by Air Products, the fastpaced STEM competition saw more than 500 students from across Surrey come together to tackle realworld engineering challenges. The competition began with a series of regional heats at schools across Surrey, where teams competed to qualify for the Grand Finale. Students were challenged to design a lowemission vehicle capable of transporting liquid nitrogen, replicated by battery or rubberbandpowered models carrying a bottle of water. Air Products’ engineers designed both the heats and the final challenge, and attended each round to support the students. This year’s final challenged students to design and build a crane mechanism capable of erecting a cold box – an integral part of an air separation plant. Sammi from the winning Key Stage 5 team added, “It was very exciting to participate and we’re so happy to have made our school proud. I loved the handson challenges and working as a team. Thank you to our teacher, Ms Boon.” The event marked the culmination of SATRO’s longrunning Problem Solving Challenge, which has, for more than 25 years, given young people the opportunity to tackle realworld Key Stage 3 winners Hinchley Wood School engineering problems under time pressure. Students aged 11–18 worked in teams of six to solve the challenges before reaching the Grand Finale at Air Products’ European headquarters in Chertsey. Sustainability was a key judging element, with teams earning points for using materials efficiently and returning unused materials for
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