A FORMER Ryelands Primary School pupil is celebrating after being made the boss of a multi-million pound corporation.

David Smith, 36, has taken over the reins at Atlantic Power Utilities, one of the UK's major offshore oil industry businesses which supplied aviation fuel to the allied forces during the recent military action in Serbia and Kosovo.

After doing well at Ryelands, David studied at the boys grammar school and then went on to Salford University where he graduated as a gas engineer.

Having worked extensively in the UK and abroad, he takes the helm of the multi-million pound operation at a time when the company is expanding.

Said David, who now lives at Yealand Redmayne: "I'm particularly delighted to be given responsibility of such a prestigious company and I am looking forward to making a substantial contribution to its continuing prosperity."

He added: "We manage various petroleum storage depots around the country on behalf of the Oil Pipeline Agency and we were very happy to be able to contribute to the success of the NATO operations in Kosovo. We have an impressive track record and the company is now experiencing a period of tremendous growth."

David was remembered by former Ryelands deputy headteacher, Mr Alan Greenwood, who said: "He was a very bright pupil who was good at maths and English and passed with flying colours to go to the grammar school. I remember him as being very popular."

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