‘I graduated from Edge Hill University in 2012 and enrolled with Jewson’s on a Graduate Management Trainee course. During the course, I worked in two civils branches and a general builders merchant branch, completing the course in October 2015. I was then promoted to Assistant branch manager for the local Jewson’s branch in Wigan and there continued to expand my knowledge of the wide range of products used in the building and civils sector. I was drawn to the civils side of the market, as this part of the industry has always fascinated me and I’ve enjoyed learning and broadening my knowledge about the specialist products involved. In particular I find the products and system used in today’s civil engineering industry innovative and interesting. Although I will always be thankful to Jewson’s for my initial training and starting me in the industry, I felt that the opportunity to join TCS in September 2016 was too good to miss as it aligned with my preference for civils products and applications.

An aspect of my role with TCS that I particularly enjoy is using our specialist geosynthetics knowledge to help our merchant customers find what they need. I do this by providing information on the industry leading geotechnical products that we offer and their various applications. I believe customers not only appreciate the technical help they receive but also that they can rely on our fast and efficient responses. This level of service has helped me to build a trusting relationship with my customers. As well as dealing with our merchant customers, we source geotechnical products from many different suppliers. This often involves product training and consultation with the suppliers which keeps my interest peaked and means that I can offer the most effective and up to date advice to my customers. Building relationships with suppliers is also important and I especially enjoying playing football against them (but only when we win). I feel this keeps the relationships open and positive while allowing a personal connection to be established which I believe is vital – at the end of the day, notwithstanding everything else, people deal with people.

Reflecting on my time with TCS, it’s hard to believe how fast the last three years have gone. As I mentioned I have particularly enjoyed building and expanding my product knowledge and developing my customer base, with many new relationships formed alongside strengthening old ones. I look forward to continuing this development over the years to come. I have also enjoyed the banter in the office with regards to winning orders and gaining customers, although it is all a team effort, the camaraderie is what make TCS an exciting, fun and inclusive place to work. My involvement in growing the product and customer base with TCS is something I am proud of. ‘’