Robert Glen honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's European Commercial Marine Awards

Robert has lived and breathed the marine industry for over 65 years. Among his many achievements are the marine support given to the first expedition to trace the Blue Nile from its source in 1968, engineering the first propellor-driven boat to reach over 100mhp (helmed by Bill Shakespeare) in 1970 on Lake Windermere, and introducing the first “dial-up” multi-franchise parts system for the marine industry.

Robert has been the power behind building Barrus into the dynamic marine engineering company it is today. He has worked closely with the British military since the early 1960s, designing game-changing patented marine technologies to assist their missions and keep their forces safe. His foresight and investment decisions have created one of Europe's largest marine engineering facilities, working on thousands of engines a year and providing incredible opportunities to develop the next generation of marine engineers. Since then, this expertise has extended to supporting the RNLI and many commercial UK boat builders.

Robert, through Barrus, has supported generations of marine dealers across the UK and Ireland. These dealers are the backbone of the industry, providing front-line services to mariners around the coast and on inland waterways.

In his acceptance speech, Robert thanked the whole team at Barrus who have contributed so much to the marine industry and Barrus’ success, in particular, Ben Allen, Head of Marine, David Etherington-Smith, Sales Manager, Special Products and “his friend” Mark Coleman, with whom he has worked for over 30 years. Robert looked forward to Barrus' future under the chairmanship of his daughter, Tara Glen. Robert also thanked Andrew Webster of Mercator Media, who created Seawork, for his foresight in bringing the commercial marine sector together at one event. Lastly Robert paid tribute to Penelope, his wife of 55 years.