The British Drilling Association (BDA) is pleased to announce it has appointed Richard Fielden as its new chair, replacing Martyn Brocklesby, who steps down having completed his statutory two-year tenure at the helm.

Richard Fielden, who is presently managing director of WJ Groundwater, has been in civil engineering since 1988, graduating Trent Polytechnic with a degree in civil engineering.

Though keen to continue the promotion of the BDA's core aims of improving efficiency, health and safety awareness and driving up overall standards in the industry, Richard is looking to encourage younger people into the industry, through a refocused BDA Apprenticeship Scheme.

He is also looking to enhancing the BDA Audit with an ‘audit of the audit' and bringing in new initiatives around promoting sustainability.

Speaking about his new role as chair of the British Drilling Association, Richard said: "It is a real privilege to be appointed chair of the BDA, as its relevance and importance to the drilling sector has never been greater than it is now. I am taking up the role at a time of major change in the membership criteria of the BDA and it will be both rewarding and challenging to oversee this transition.

"Drilling is a sector which I am passionate about, but I firmly believe that its success and future rest with the raising of standards, ever higher against increasing benchmarks as those set out in the BDA Audit."

With a non-ground investigation background - WJ Groundwater being mainly mostly involved in well drilling for construction dewatering and ground energy - Richard is also looking to engage more with members, present and potential, from the other ground drilling sectors currently underrepresented in the BDA, such as well drilling, grouting and soil nailing.

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The British Drilling Association (BDA) is a trade association formed in 1976 with 115 member companies, representing all aspects of the drilling sector. The BDA strives to support the needs, activities and ambitions of its membership