Employee Spotlight: Josh Collingswood

His story demonstrates how passion as an EV early adopter, engineering curiosity and personal initiative, combined with Actemium’s supportive and entrepreneurial culture, have propelled his career, with even more opportunities on the horizon.

Josh, tell us about your current role and what makes it unique in the UK market.

I work across commissioning and maintenance for EV chargers in the UK and Ireland – mainly the high-powered/ultra-rapid, complex ones. What makes this role unique is that there aren’t many engineers out there doing what I do. It’s a pretty specialised field that’s evolved as the industry has grown.

I started with a software background and did an electrical apprenticeship, which gave me the technical foundation to handle the more complex systems. Recognising my skill, enthusiasm and energy, Actemium supported me to become a qualified supervisor and later on reaching the highest JIB grade possible for electrical engineers. I then gained significant experience in complex EV charging systems and built up my skills in commissioning and maintenance in the sector.

From there on, as the industry grew, the business placed its trust in me, and my role developed quickly – from pure maintenance to travelling all over the country getting new sites up and running and supporting an expanding team.

You have been in the business for eight years. What’s been the highlight of your career at Actemium so far?

Definitely Actemium securing our first-ever commissioning contract with Porsche in 2019. At the time, no one else in the UK was trained on their new high-powered chargers. So I went to Germany for certification and became the UK’s first qualified Porsche commissioning engineer.

That put us in a unique position as a business, and we ended up handling every Porsche dealership nationwide where there were high powered chargers – whether we’d installed them or not. It established us as the go-to technical partner for premium brands like Porsche, and soon afterwards ABB, Ionity, Gridserve and MER. That became the foundation for our national EV maintenance offering.

More recently, working in collaboration with my colleague Christine Nasr in building our nationwide maintenance department has been equally rewarding.

So, what other technologies are you maintaining at EV charging hubs and stations out there?

A bit of everything really! Besides ABB, Porsche, Gridserve, also Shell Recharge, Alpitronic chargers, and battery buffer systems like ADS-TEC units. Each brand has its own quirks, software interfaces, and hardware challenges.

It’s not just about electrical knowledge anymore though – you’ve got to understand each system’s software and commissioning requirements too. That’s why we’re building a versatile team that can handle the complete technology range, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

What does Actemium’s national coverage look like?

We have engineers covering the entire UK – from the south coast to Scotland and across to Belfast. I’ve personally worked everywhere from Le Mans to Aberdeen and Northern Ireland. We’ve strategically grown the team geographically to respond faster and more efficiently nationwide. And we are still actively recruiting.

How do you see the aim for Actemium’s maintenance team?

To be the UK’s go-to EV charger maintenance provider, not just because of our size, but our quality. We continue to grow while ensuring everyone works to the same high standard across the board.

Actemium wants to build a confident, capable team that can handle every issue on-site, from routine maintenance to the most complex problems. It’s about building consistency, knowledge, and confidence – setting the standard rather than just keeping up with demand.

For anyone new to the sector, what do you think are the qualities they will need to succeed?

Curiosity is the big one. You need to want to figure things out. You can’t just be the person who says “it doesn’t work” – you’ve got to ask why it’s not working and want to figure out how to fix it.

You also need to be comfortable with tech. It’s not just tools and wires anymore – it’s laptops, software updates, diagnostics. If you can’t get your head around that, it will be tough.

And flexibility. Every day’s different. You might fix something in ten minutes, or it might take you two days. You’ve got to be okay with that.

What’s the culture like at Actemium, and what kind of people thrive in your team?

It’s a very easy-going and collaborative environment. We all get on well, and that makes a real difference when you’re working on complex jobs or out on the road together. There’s a great team mindset where everyone’s willing to pitch in and help solve problems.

The people who thrive here are the ones who are naturally curious and keen to learn. You don’t need to know everything on day one, but you do need to ask questions, want to understand how things work, and be open to sharing knowledge. That’s what makes the team stronger and keeps standards high across the board.

Finally, what do you think is next for the EV industry?

There’s still huge opportunity for growth in the EV charging space – and that creates a lot of chances for personal growth. With new legislation now in place around the availability and reliability of charge points – and a growing number of drivers depending on them – uptime is more important than ever. Operators can face penalties when chargers are out of service, so our role is to help them stay compliant, minimise downtime, and deliver a seamless charging experience for the end-user.

Interested in a career as an EV charging maintenance engineer? Have a look at our current vacancies on our Careers Portal or email us your CV at reachout@actemium.co.uk.