Dorset Council – the final piece in Gary’s jigsaw

Project manager Gary Littledyke is helping spearhead an innovative project to test how 5G can boost Dorset’s rural economy while making it a safer place for visitors to enjoy. Led by Dorset Council, the 5G RuralDorset project is run in partnership with major players in the technological industries. Here Gary shines a light on how his very wide and varied background in telecommunications has brought him into the public sector.

 My role with Dorset Council is the final piece in the jigsaw as my working life enters its twilight period (or is it twilight zone?) and I can now claim to have worked for the armed forces, central government, local government, large corporates and SMEs . . .  AND set up and run my own business too!

 Having joined the army as a spotty 16 year-old, and following a two year apprenticeship in Harrogate, I spent around eight years in special comms with the Royal Corps of Signals. This led to a role in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) where, for eight years, I worked around the world providing highly secure communications for the government.

My ability to send morse code at high speeds (and monitor incoming signals too) became redundant as technology developed and automated communications links became the order of the day. I left the FCO and started life in the commercial world as a project manager in communications.  My “can do attitude” led to a fairly meteoric rise over a fairly short period of time and within a couple of years I was appointed to the board. I spent the rest of my career in sales and board of director roles across the defence technology, and more recently, in wireless communications (3G/4G/5G and Wi-Fi) where I spent time with the likes of ITT Defence, Arqiva and Real Wireless to name but a few.

Having relocated to Dorset about 18 months ago as part of an attempt to work less hard (having had some high pressure demanding roles requiring constant attention and a phone that never stopped ringing) I was looking for a role that would a) not carry a sales target, b) allow me to relax just a little bit at the weekends and evenings and c) benefit from my knowledge and experience.  The salary was less important!

I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn and a good friend pinged me a link for a Dorchester-based role as a project manager on an exciting 5G Testbed & Trials project being run by Dorset Council.  I applied and after a couple of online interviews (we were now in lockdown) I was offered the role. To have secured this role on such a fascinating project couldn’t have come at a better time for me – I was delighted.

I’m very lucky to work in the council’s very talented Digital Place Team and one of the things that has really struck me is the professionalism and dedication of my colleagues – I don’t know why it was a surprise but it was for some reason.

Another thing that surprised me is the way Dorset is embracing exciting new technologies like 5G and is keen to be seen as a thought leader in this area – not just regionally but across the UK.

I’m nearly a year in now and I love working for Dorset Council.  It’s a very people focused organisation and I’m lucky to be working on a project that will help show how 5G can help us change the way we do things in a rural area and be the answer to some of the challenges we face.

I like to think that my network, knowledge and background helps bring a different perspective to the team and I’ve been told a few times that this is the case.  I guess having owned my own business and been responsible for managing teams in previous roles, I have an appreciation of some of the challenges an organisation faces that perhaps not everyone is fortunate to have?

I absolutely adore Dorset, having spent many years commuting into London I now live less than a minute from the beach in Lyme Regis. The people of this wonderful county are very friendly and welcoming (I may have only been here a few years but I feel like I’ve been accepted as a local) – that said, it probably helps that my son runs the Shave Cross Inn in Marshwood so I get to meet lots of the locals as they drop in for a pint or a bite to eat!

I love my work but in the evenings and at weekends I can be mostly found at my son’s pub eating and drinking any profits he might have made (or at least I would have been doing that, and will be again soon, once we are all able to get out and about a bit more).

I’ve really enjoyed my first year at Dorset Council and while we have made good progress over the last 12 months we still have much to do. I am very much looking forward to making a “digital difference” for those that live, work and visit Dorset.

To find out more about the 5G RuralDorset project go to 5G RuralDorset – look at for the video on the homepage to give you a valuable insight into all the work the project is undertaking.

 We are recruiting. If, like Gary, you would like a career change and are passionate about the digital world why not apply to join us? We have new vacancies for a range of new digital projects, click here for more details Dorset Recruitment – Jobs and careers (dorsetcouncil.gov.uk)