10 Years of Laser Service

Think Wales, think Dave Beavington. Or put another way, think Dave Beavington, think Wales! If Dave were a stick of seaside rock, the word Wales would be running all the way through it.

Early years

Dave was born in (you’ve guessed it) Wales, in a town called Pencoed, near Bridgend in the south of the country. Dave’s parents still live in the house he was born in. Married to Karen with four children, two girls and two boys (the three eldest are in their 20s), Dave left the family nest a long time ago. But only down the road, Pencoed is still his hometown.

Apprentice at 16

Dave left school at 16 and moved straight into an apprenticeship making ship, crane, car and flight simulators. 15 years later he was service manager and had already travelled the world extensively as part of his job.

When the simulator company closed, he opened his own consultancy business which traded successfully for a few years before he decided to retrain in lasers in 2004. Six years later he became a full-time laser service engineer at TLM.

Man of the World

Apart from the founding directors, Dave was TLM’s first employee. On joining, he was immediately thrown in the deep end by attending a training course in California. However, in these early days such a trip was a rarity.  While the company was expanding, Dave spent a lot of the time at home but as the company grew, that all changed.

In fact, travel has been a stand-out element of Dave’s working life. During his career, he’s visited all 7 continents and all 46 States of America.

He’s also travelled throughout the Middle and Far East. Asked to name a favourite country, the reply was China – “Love it – one of my favs.”

The sweet smell of success?

Like any job, Dave’s had his good and bad moments and his share of friendly and awkward customers.

One of Dave’s abiding memories of his time so far with TLM was servicing and calibrating a veterinary clinic’s laser. In between calibrations, the vet continued to use the laser. The smell of a set of ovaries being removed by laser from a fully anaesthetised and unknowing female dog will live with Dave for ever.

Sports mad

As you’d expect from a Welshman, Dave lives and breathes rugby. He’s played the game from child to adult and rubbed shoulders with some of the greats along the way.

In the Pencoed youth team, he played alongside the renowned Welsh and British Lions player, Scott Gibbs. Away from the pitch, Dave was close friends with rugby icon, the late Jonah Lomu and had “Many a night socialising with him.”

Sport runs in the Beavington family. Dave’s youngest son is a Blackbelt kickboxer. Just 14 years old, he’s fought all over the UK and represented Wales in the world championships in Germany a few years ago.

Despite his passion for rugby, Dave’s overriding love is for his country, it’s beautiful coast and countryside and its patriotic and friendly people. Not to mention that it’s “Home to the greatest rugby ground and team. We do some great whisky too!”

Dave Beavington is just one of TLM’s nationwide team of fully trained and experienced laser service engineers. If you have a maintenance or service requirement or would like details of TLM’s Preventative Maintenance Contracts, please visit sales@tlm-laser.com