Garmendale Theme Park Engineering has announced the appointment of Wayne Ford as Technical Project Manager.
Wayne Ford, 43, joins the company from Stage One UK. Prior to that, he spent over 21 years at ride manufacturer, WGH Transportation, initially briefed to establish digital design standards.
He went on to work on countless roller coasters and rides across the UK and beyond. Among them are The Balloon School and Dragon’s Apprentice at LEGOLAND Windsor, and The Jellikins and Rhombus Rocket at Fantasy Island.
After a stint at Stage One UK, Ford is now back in the theme park industry, eager to lead the design and manufacturing teams at Garmendale’s UK headquarters.
“I’ve known the Garmendale team for many years as they maintained quite a few of our (WGH) rides, so when the chance to join them came up, I jumped at it,” explains Ford.
Garmendale engineers rides for minimal maintenance
“My time at Stage One was great and the work was incredibly fast paced. No sooner had it come off the ‘drawing board’ it was in the workshop being fabricated. There was literally no time to breathe.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to somewhere that is every bit as dynamic, but gives the team time to stop, consider, revise and refine,” continues Ford. “We will know that by the time a ride leaves us, it will be beautifully engineered, designed and manufactured by our in-house team to last a lifetime, with minimal maintenance.”
According to Ford, observing the high standards that the team at Garmendale works to convinced him that he’d come to the right place:
“At WGH, I led the design office, managed some of the sales, as well as led the build projects, so this experience will really help bring some new experience and ideas to the Garmendale design team,” he adds.
