When I received the news of Trevor’s passing after his fight with cancer I was shocked and very upset with the news. I had known Trevor for the vast majority of my working life, having first met him during my apprenticeship back in the the early 1980’s.  I started to get to know him better when working on the Eurofighter Typhoon project in the 1990’s and really got to know him well in the last 15 years or so. Many great times and achievements, too many to mention here. Trevor had senior roles on the Harrier project before moving to Typhoon where he became the architect of the Eurofighter in service support strategy.  Later he expanded his role to the broader Eurofighter Typhoon project and his final career move was to Munich as COO Programmes.  Trevor also invested time into the BAE Systems pension funds as a trustee. 


Trevor worked in Munich for about 10 years;  he commanded respect from everyone from all nations, including industry, airforces and government.  His ability to absorb massive amounts of information and summarise were legendary.  We used to talk almost daily when the programme challenges were at the highest, to develop strategies and align all our stakeholders.  We created a UK alignment forum with Keith Bethell from the RAF and Graham Farnell from NETMA, meeting every few months to align our thoughts.  These were done over dinner with great food and wine. Trevor was always instrumental in the strategic thinking and desire to reach solutions for everyone, a real collaborator.  And of course,  selection of the food and wine! When I went to work in KSA as COO Programmes our relationship was strong and this paid dividends in his  support to me with a demanding customer.   


Trevor was a strong chairman of meetings and following lengthy debates would always summarise with three points.  His “three point” summaries became legendary with everyone in the industry.  However, Trevor’s natural enthusiasm would often get the better of him and his three point summaries often expanded to four of five points!   Nevertheless, his ability to summarise complex issues succinctly were exceptional and people would naturally look to Trevor for clarity of direction and leadership.    


Trevor was a keen birdwatcher or “twitcher”.  When he went to Munich he wanted a bird feeder outside his first floor office at the ABC (Airport Business Centre). However, rules in Germany are strict,  so the building management insisted on installing the bird table according to the building and local regulations. Over the weekend, using a cherrypicker crane, they installed a metal cantilevered arm off the building structure with the bird table fitted securely on top.  For health and safety reasons, they made Trevor a funnel and pipe to safely put the bird seed on the table so he didn’t have to lean out of the window.  I spent many an hour in Trevor’s office watching the birds visit for the seed -  probably the most expensive bird table ever fitted to a building! Money well spent as Trevor loved it.  


Trevor asked me one day to sort a trip to Old Trafford to see a football match.  Trevor and Sue joined our football group for a day in Manchester to watch United.  It was an all day trip - a train to Manc, brunch and beer, then a canal trip down to the match at Old Trafford with more beer. Afterwards, more beer and food in the city before a return trip home.  Trevor had never seen a live match and didn’t really understand the rules of football.  strategies and tactics.  On the canal barge down to the ground,  I recall him discussing with my son David the strategies and tactics of football from first principles; Trevor soon grasped the concept and was soon exploring tactics and playing formations.  A great day out with the football gang.  


Another fond and funny memory of Trevor was his legendary albatross joke. I must have heard it a dozen times over the years and still belly laughed; Trevors ability to tell the joke of an albatross flying into the sun was fantastic, full of animation and often told stood on a chair or indeed, on a table. People often used to urge Trevor to tell the story even though they had heard it many times.  


Trevor will be sadly missed by everyone he worked with over the years.  He will certainly leave a legacy and live on in people memories.  A number of us also enjoyed a personal relationship over the years and he certainly made our lives richer for the experience.


Difficult times for Sue, Simon and Sophie.  Hopefully this short note will help to give you an insight to how people respected Trevor from a work perspective.  He will be missed by many. 


Steven Greenbank - BAE Systems (Retired)