Chris Chambers

Mr Chris Chambers

I was born in 1951. I began working at the BBC in 1967, my final year at the BBC was 2016. Whilst at the BBC I was known as C J Chambers.

Education

Staveley School, Chiswick. Acton Technical Collage (now a part of Brunel University)

Previous Jobs

None

How I joined the BBC

From the age of ten I was interested in electronics and through my teenage years started to do stage lighting a sound in the Chiswick area of West London whenever the opportunity arose. When it was time to look for employment, a letter was sent to the BBC and they took me on as an engineering apprentice in 1967 at Avenue House.

My first impressions of the BBC

Engineering division seemed a fairly regimented and hierarchical place with quite a number of the middle management positions held be ex military types. However, in those days it was easy to roam any BBC building (no ID passes then) and I really enjoyed looking at what was going on in Lime Grove, TVC and Broadcasting House in particular. It was both exciting and inspiring!

Broad BBC career

Following the completion of my engineering apprenticeship (5 Years) I worked in Studio Capital Projects planning and building all manor of broadcasting facilities all over the UK. (Studios, Control areas, OB trucks and venues) and after many years doing that I moved to Research and Development in Kingswood Warren where I became a section head and ended up as Principal Research Engineer, Infrastructure. From my project days to my retirement, I also represented the BBC in a number of external professional bodies.

My training at the BBC

All in my training was through the BBC. They sponsored my through collage (during my apprenticeship). I did many engineering courses, including the engineering "C" course at Wood Norton and well and a number of internal and external management courses.