You’ve been with SEA for over ten years now, how has the company changed in that time?
SEA has changed quite a bit. When I joined, it was just two sites, Bristol and Beckington. Not long after I started, SEA acquired another company, J&S. This was obviously significant, as we went from two sites to four sites overnight. The acquisition changed the way we used our Bristol and Beckington sites: one major change was all manufacturing went to the Barnstaple site.
There has been a more gradual change though in the last ten years. At times, it’s felt like two or three separate businesses merging into one big company, which has provided challenges and opportunities for everyone. But despite that, SEA has always remained people focused, even at 450 people and growing! It's always felt that you're valued within the company. You’re not a number here, you’re a person, anyone can speak to the managing director or any of the leadership team. Our benefits have stayed competitive too, and there are a lot of people here that have been with the company for 20, 30 and even 40 years! Which tells you all you need to know.
What does the Head of Business Services do at SEA?
My role is leading the business services team to deliver the key services that help make the business run. Environmental health and safety, security (physical and personnel), facilities, (building maintenance and improvements) and admin/reception. I'm also involved in social values, like environmental improvements and carbon footprint reduction.
I also spend my time on the strategy side of things, dealing with planning and landlord permissions, building regulation compliance and making sure the sites are ready for the future. For example, questioning are we likely to outgrow a site at any point in the next five to ten years? Are our sites compliant? What upcoming changes in legislation could mean for our sites?
The biggest challenge we face is not always being informed early enough about changes in the business that could affect our sites; doing anything at the last minute will never be efficient. I’ve found Business services are not normally the first thing that jumps to mind during the bid phase of a project, however, if we are engaged at the bid phase, we can help shape the bid and in turn shape our budgets and strategy to support it.
We’re currently working on a large company wide project to optimise our buildings; thinking about the way they're laid out, making them more pleasant and more effective. We started about two and a half years ago and we're aiming to try and complete it this financial year. The project is going well, and the results speak for themselves. The completed areas look very good, I can’t take all the credit for that though, as it’s a team effort down to the Business Services team, Production Engineering team and many other individuals within SEA.
How did you get into that role?
I started at SEA as a facility supervisor, effectively a facilities electrician. For the first five years at SEA, I was promoted every year. That was a combination of working hard, taking opportunities when they came along, and not being frightened to take on additional responsibilities.
I was self-employed for eight years before I joined SEA, there’s a certain drive required for self-employment, and that has stayed with me. Being self-employed is a lifestyle, it's not a job, there are no paid holidays, very little benefits or support. Even when I was meant to be on holiday or meant to be having a day off, the phone was always ringing or there was always something i could be doing. It was rewarding, but it got to the point where I didn't enjoy it anymore and needed to change.
How is your Team contributing to making our sites more environmentally friendly?
We started this around nine years ago with the facilities team and I installing LED lighting, and we’ve built up gradually from that. We've been doing a lot around the sites, and it’s often the stuff that a lot of people don't see. Things like replacing the boilers, the heating systems and infrastructure, improving the lighting, changing the way we control the lighting, installing insulation, reducing the amount of floor space we're lighting, heating/cooling (where possible), and installing better controls.
As a business we’re in good shape from an energy use perspective. According to a lot of key metrics, we're performing better than an average engineering company of our size. Trying to get further reductions can be quite challenging, as we’ve carried out most of the obvious stuff. In the next couple of years, we’re going to be tackling trickier stuff, like trying to get our water usage down. We have to look outside of the box to find further room to improve.
What do you like most about working at SEA?
I've always enjoyed the flexibility SEA offers, which has become even more flexible as working practices have changed. It was one of the biggest reasons I joined and made the transition from being self-employed so much easier. I enjoy the variation the role offers, for instance I work at all our sites which allows me the opportunity to “go see” and meet colleagues which is a very important part of my role. It's great to be working in a growing business that’s always trying to improve. I get a lot of satisfaction from that.
Do you have any advice for people who want to follow in your footsteps?
You’ve got to be open to feedback, whether positive or negative. Generally, with business services, you don’t get contacted unless something’s wrong or people need help, so you need to be a good communicator and not take negative feedback personally. You also have to be good at project management, and be able to work with suppliers, contractors and other stakeholders.
It also helps to be handy with planning tools like CAD, so you can show people what an area could look like, opening their minds to what the future state could be. Often, I find that in my role, people don't always see the wood for the trees. So, you need to be able to get people to see what the future could be and look like.
Aside from skills, my advice would be, work hard, show willingness and put yourself forward for things that you know you haven’t done before, including things outside of your comfort zone. Don't think just because you've come from one sector that you can't do something else. If you told me what I’m doing now ten years ago, I would have probably laughed at you. It’s about getting involved and going for it.
Thank you, Neil.
Learn more about working at SEA on our careers page.
