Barry McHardy

Barry McHardy is the UK Director for Ventus Wind Services UK Ltd based in the Scottish Borders near the foot of the UK’s largest onshore Installed capacity windfarm, Clyde Wind Farm.

Barry joined the Royal Navy in 1993 as an Aeronautical Mechanical Engineer. Having completed an apprenticeship and on a fast-track promotion program. He attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer within six years. Appointed to many roles in his 19-year career, Barry found his interests firmly based in aircraft structural integrity and vibration analysis, measuring rotor track balance and vibration. He was later promoted to the senior position reviewing the Sea King Helicopter Fleet’s vibration limits before leaving the Royal Navy in 2012.

Barry transferred his structural integrity interests into the oil and gas industry for a few years before the first of many downturns. Whilst in a short-lived role as Quality Manager within a fabrication company producing exhausts for many Formula 1 teams, the opportunity arose to move into the exponentially growing wind turbine industry. Working on many projects in different roles and particularly with Ventus Engineering, the offer came to start up a UK entity of Ventus Wind Services.

Fully understanding and excited by what the Ventus Group were doing within R&D and what they were already accomplishing within the Austrian Wind Services company, Barry saw the opportunity to use all his skills and experience to build a strong UK-based company that recognised where the gaps were in the Wind Industry for optimising the efficiency of wind turbines and wind farms but also improving the longevity of turbines all the while committed to advancing towards a net zero environment.

Barry resides in the beautiful lowlands of Scotland populated largely by sheep and wind farms. He completely embraces these giant majestic structures which some might say blight the landscape and horizon.

Barry enjoys engaging with others in the industry, networking and presenting, but readily embraces educating and making owners of all portfolio sizes aware of what Ventus does and can do to maximise the production of existing assets and future wind energy investments by reducing maintenance, risk as well as the cost of energy.