Meet the Team – Richard Croxford, Design Engineer at Crafter Engineering

Since joining Crafter Engineering in April, Design Engineer Richard Croxford has quickly become a key part of our team, tackling some of the most challenging temporary works schemes with determination. His journey so far is a strong example of how we develop engineers internally, and how that investment translates into high-quality support for contractors across the UK.

Building Confidence Through Complex Projects

Richard came to Crafter Engineering with a background in temporary works, but his experience and mentoring in Crafter has pushed him into new areas and broadened his skill set considerably.

Over the past five months, he has worked on a wide range of projects requiring him to become push his materials knowledge across steel, masonry, concrete, timber, and geotechnical interfaces, gaining exposure to many of the different corners of the temporary works world. Among these, several projects stand out:

• Industrial Steel Chimney Emergency Repair – Designing a temporary support system for a damaged steel chimney, ensuring site safety during complex repair works.

• Bridge Abutment Foundations – Developing ground and structural designs for bridgeworks, building new expertise in geotechnical design principles.

• Dockyard Steel Structures – Providing stability solutions for a 70-metre span truss structure during erection, ensuring safe installation for the contractor.

Each of these schemes demanded a different skillset and demonstrated Richard’s ability to adapt quickly while maintaining high technical standards.

Emergency structural support designed by Richard to enable safe repairs to be undertaken to an industrial steel chimney, undertaken rapidly, earlier this year.

Mastering Steel Connection Design

One area where Richard’s development has been particularly impressive is in complex steel connection design. Temporary works often requires tailored solutions that go beyond standard textbook examples, and Richard has risen to the challenge.

By combining first principles and hand calculations with advanced finite element (FE) analysis, he has delivered robust designs for highly loaded and geometrically complex connections. While he had only touched on this type of work previously, the support available at Crafter Engineering, guidance from senior engineers and the freedom to explore rigorous methods, has enabled him to refine and master this skill.

This capability is invaluable for contractors who need certainty in their steelwork temporary arrangements. Whether it’s connection checks, stability during erection, or designing bespoke support systems, Richard’s work highlights the technical depth we can offer.

A Supportive but Challenging Environment

Richard’s progress is not just down to his own hard work but also to the environment we foster at Crafter Engineering. We aim to give engineers the opportunity to stretch themselves technically, while ensuring that the right support is always available. This combination allows our team to tackle the most demanding schemes with confidence, and it gives our clients assurance that every design is backed by both rigour and experience.

As Richard himself put it, the deadlines in temporary works are always challenging, but with the right guidance and a collaborative team around him, he has excelled in that environment.

Looking Ahead

Richard is now preparing to achieve Incorporated Engineer (IEng) status with the Institution of Civil Engineers, with his submission scheduled for later this year. His trajectory reflects our wider approach: developing engineers to a high standard so that we can continue to provide contractors with the very best in temporary works design.

Delivering for Contractors

Richard’s journey so far is proof of the breadth of capability within Crafter Engineering and a testament to his own determinedness and ability . From structural steelwork and geotechnical design through to masonry and concrete schemes, we provide contractors with safe, efficient, and practical temporary works solutions, delivered by engineers who combine first-principles, practical thinking and modern analysis tools.

For contractors across the UK, that means one thing: whether it’s a bespoke steel connection, a stability assessment, or a complex ground-structure interface, Crafter Engineering has the expertise to deliver.