I still remember the very first time I "met" Nick. It was via video for my interview to be his assistant, and I was running late due to a traffic jam on the freeway on the way into work. I scrambled into the room with barely a minute to spare, the IT guy left me a remote with a hasty explanation on how to move the camera which I completely missed as I was focused on trying to get calm enough for the biggest interview of my career and just as he left the room, Nick appeared on the screen. I remember feeling the usual nerves go away very quickly as Nick quickly made me feel comfortable and relaxed and I proceeded with the interview. It was quite the shock to me when about 10 minutes in, Nick pointed out that he could only see the top of my head! I of course could not move the camera, so we conducted the remainder of the interview that way. I was of course completely embarrassed but as was his nature, Nick did not let that bother him and made me feel at ease.
Over the next two and half years I spent a lot of time with Nick. At meetings watching him weighing up hugely important decisions, on site engaging and learning about his colleagues (his favorite place to be in a work setting) and of course in bars, airports, cars just talking about anything to pass the time. Several things became apparent to me over the course of our time together. Firstly, he cared so much about the people in his life. He had an empathy that immediately made people feel they could talk to him and he cared about them.
Secondly, he had a razor sharp wit. My all time favorite Nick story was him getting “caught” stealing English Breakfast Tea from the British Airways lounge at Heathrow. When I called him out on it, he laughed but several weeks later when we were back in the lounge, he feigned a phone call, dumped 20 tea bags in front of me and left in the hope I would also be caught in the “Great British Airways Tea Sting”. Fortunately for me I escaped without being caught and fortunately for him, I took the 20 bags of tea with us!
Finally, he loved working in refining. His knowledge and passion of the industry was second to none, and he was an inspiration to work for and it was a privilege to learn from him. I remember so many people commenting to me how lucky I was to work so closely with him and of course, they were right. Working with Nick was career defining for me, and it is no stretch to say that him deciding to hire me was one of the major “sliding doors” moments in my families life.
In my last conversation with him at the end of March, I thanked him for taking a risk on me, being so generous with his time and his knowledge and for always making me feel like a valued part of the team. His response: “Oh, it wasn’t a risk at all Allan”. How he could work that out while only seeing the top of my head is beyond me.
Eve, Richard and Robert, our heartfelt condolences from myself, Bec and Harry. The world has lost a truly good person, and he is missed by many, but I am sure none more that you.
I still remember the very first time I "met" Nick. It was via video for my interview to be his assistant, and I was running late due to a traffic jam on the freeway on the way into work. I scrambled into the room with barely a minute to spare, the IT guy left me a remote with a hasty explanation on how to move the camera which I completely missed as I was focused on trying to get calm enough for the biggest interview of my career and just as he left the room, Nick appeared on the screen. I remember feeling the usual nerves go away very quickly as Nick quickly made me feel comfortable and relaxed and I proceeded with the interview. It was quite the shock to me when about 10 minutes in, Nick pointed out that he could only see the top of my head! I of course could not move the camera, so we conducted the remainder of the interview that way. I was of course completely embarrassed but as was his nature, Nick did not let that bother him and made me feel at ease.
Over the next two and half years I spent a lot of time with Nick. At meetings watching him weighing up hugely important decisions, on site engaging and learning about his colleagues (his favorite place to be in a work setting) and of course in bars, airports, cars just talking about anything to pass the time. Several things became apparent to me over the course of our time together. Firstly, he cared so much about the people in his life. He had an empathy that immediately made people feel they could talk to him and he cared about them.
Secondly, he had a razor sharp wit. My all time favorite Nick story was him getting “caught” stealing English Breakfast Tea from the British Airways lounge at Heathrow. When I called him out on it, he laughed but several weeks later when we were back in the lounge, he feigned a phone call, dumped 20 tea bags in front of me and left in the hope I would also be caught in the “Great British Airways Tea Sting”. Fortunately for me I escaped without being caught and fortunately for him, I took the 20 bags of tea with us!
Finally, he loved working in refining. His knowledge and passion of the industry was second to none, and he was an inspiration to work for and it was a privilege to learn from him. I remember so many people commenting to me how lucky I was to work so closely with him and of course, they were right. Working with Nick was career defining for me, and it is no stretch to say that him deciding to hire me was one of the major “sliding doors” moments in my families life.
In my last conversation with him at the end of March, I thanked him for taking a risk on me, being so generous with his time and his knowledge and for always making me feel like a valued part of the team. His response: “Oh, it wasn’t a risk at all Allan”. How he could work that out while only seeing the top of my head is beyond me.
Eve, Richard and Robert, our heartfelt condolences from myself, Bec and Harry. The world has lost a truly good person, and he is missed by many, but I am sure none more that you.
