Meet the Team: Andrew Kingshott

For Andrew Kingshott, the path into marine engineering was not a straight line. Growing up in High Wycombe, he initially considered a career in the Royal Navy before heading to university to study electronic engineering and computer systems. However, the appeal of working at sea remained, and during his final year he came across the Merchant Navy, a route that offered both practical experience and formal training.

“I quite liked the idea of it being a traditional apprenticeship,” he explains. “You had the practical side alongside the education.” That combination proved to be the right fit. Andrew secured a cadetship with Maersk and began his training at Warsash Maritime Academy, going on to qualify as an Engineer Officer of the Watch.

Working predominantly in the offshore oil and gas sector, Andrew was involved in subsea construction and project vessels, operating in environments where reliability and performance were critical. It was during this time that he developed a practical understanding of machinery that continues to influence his work today. “When you’re actually working with the equipment day in, day out, you start to understand how it behaves,” he says. “You see how things respond in real conditions, not just how they’re supposed to work.”

Alongside that practical experience, Andrew has always had a natural curiosity about how things function. Rather than accepting issues at face value, he has tended to look deeper into the underlying causes. “I’ve always been interested in understanding why something has happened,” he says. “You can start with a simple issue, but then you realise there’s more to it, and that’s what keeps you interested.” That mindset has proved particularly valuable in investigative work, where identifying cause is rarely straightforward.

After qualifying and progressing at sea, Andrew moved ashore in 2019 to join Charles Taylor as a consulting engineer. There, he worked closely with adjusters on a wide range of cases, advising on the cause and extent of damage and supporting claims assessments. The experience gave him a broader view of how engineering analysis fits into the wider claims process.

“When you’re reviewing reports and seeing how they’re used, you start to understand what matters,” he explains. “You see where clarity is needed, and where things can be challenged.” This exposure has shaped how he approaches his own work, with a focus on providing clear, well-supported conclusions that can stand up to scrutiny.

Andrew joined Brookes Bell in 2025, attracted by the opportunity to work within a multidisciplinary team and contribute to the growth of its Hull and Machinery services. “I was looking for somewhere where I could continue to develop, but also work alongside people with different areas of expertise,” he says. “Brookes Bell offered that.” His role now involves marine engineering surveys and investigations, supporting clients across a range of technical and claims-related matters.

For Andrew, one of the most rewarding aspects of the work is helping clients navigate technical issues with confidence. “You’re often asked to give an opinion on whether something makes sense, or whether a course of action is reasonable,” he says. “Being able to support those decisions, based on experience and evidence, is something I enjoy.” It is not simply about identifying what has happened, but about providing clarity and assisting in situations where the answer may not be immediately obvious.

That balance between technical knowledge and practical judgement reflects the nature of engineering investigations more broadly. While qualifications and training are important, Andrew emphasises the value of experience, particularly when information is incomplete. “You don’t always have the full picture,” he says. “Sometimes you have to step back and think about what you would reasonably expect to have happened, based on what you know.”

Looking back, Andrew sees his time at sea as a defining part of his career. “It gives you a level of understanding that’s difficult to replicate elsewhere,” he says. “You’ve seen how things work in practice, and that stays with you.”