[Team work: Alison and Ian after a call with a new customer]
1. What were your career ambitions growing up?
I wanted to be a fireman for about 7 years. But I also knew from a young age that numbers were my thing, so that was the career path I chose.
2. What is your proudest business achievement?
In 2016, Wheelwash won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise
3. How has your industry changed over the last decade / few years?
We have been driving product leadership in environmental and safety performance. We’ve noticed customers appreciating this requirement and the benefit of our products, and this has been fuelling our growth. COVID certainly has been challenging in terms of both labour and material availability, and as our products also use quality steel, our materials cost has been impacted by the huge increase in steel prices.
4. What are you currently working on?
As a team, we’re continually looking for improvement opportunities. Last month, we rolled out a new technology system that will make it easier to have visibility and manage processes. It’s operating smoothly business-wide.
5. Tell us about your team!
I have a great management team that all work extremely hard in their respective specialist areas. We work as a group, lots of laughs, but it’s very important to me that we foster a company culture where we come together to deal with challenges.
6. Best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
It actually came from my mum many years ago when she attended a work gathering at my father’s workplace.
She said, “if you end up having half as much respect at work as you father does, you will have done well.”
It’s been advice that has stuck with me.
7. How do you unwind outside of work?
Food! Cooking it, watching programmes about it, learning, and then to compensate for the extra calories, I took up running a year ago and have done two marathons this year which has given me a sense of achievement.
8. Where is Wheelwash headed next?
Continuing to improve service, quality and performance. Ensuring sustainable growth and longevity for the business, and the people that work within it.
Follow Ian on LinkedIn: Ian Jolly | LinkedIn