AROUND THE CLOCK AROUND THE CLOCK


Each issue we catch up with a health & safety professional to find out about their varied work/life balance. This month we caught up with Simon Ash, UK Sales Manager at HAIX.


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WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES? As the sole representative for HAIX in the UK, my


responsibilities are all encompassing. However, my primary responsibility is to work with companies and educate them about the importance of high-quality, safety-focussed footwear and the risks associated with wearing sub-par boots. This will invariably involve site visits, open and honest discussions with end-users, and then setting up wear trials to ensure we can find the right boot for the job that removes the current risk they face. HAIX provides quality footwear for a number of sectors, from the emergency services to forestry, safety and the military. I get to meet and speak with many different people in different jobs every week, it keeps things interesting.


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HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY? I’ve always been involved in footwear; after years


of competing in running shoes I was lucky enough to make my passion a career when I started work in the running division at Adidas. The move into safety footwear came after 13 years of working in sports, but it was the technical footwear background that helped me make that transition, as safety footwear is a product that needs to perform at the highest level.


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WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE THIS JOB? After graduating from Loughborough University


in 2003, I worked at a specialist running footwear retailer in Norwich until the Running representative opportunity came up at adidas.


WHAT DO YOU DO IN A TYPICAL DAY? There is no typical day, although I’d say the majority


of my days are spent travelling around the UK and Ireland visiting customers and distribution partners. The beauty of my role is that within the same day I could be presenting in the morning to young British Army soldiers on the benefits on quality footwear and injury prevention, and then working with arborists in the afternoon to assess boots with chainsaw protection.


WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE OR PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?


A real proud moment for me has been working with the HM Coastguard. I’ve been working with the teams in equipping its volunteers with the HAIX Black Eagle Safety boots, ensuring they are equipped and have the protection they need when completing their rescue missions. We have supplied the force with over 3,000 boots and today every coastguard volunteer in the UK wears HAIX boots. We received fantastic feedback, and the coastguard teams are so happy with their new footwear.


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WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? The variation. I work across a variety of industries


with different requirements, and trying to assess and identify the solution to the footwear challenges the workers face in each industry is an exciting – and important – mission. Also, working with all the great people in the UK emergency services is an absolute privilege. The work emergency responders do should never be underestimated.


WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF YOUR JOB? Managing the uncertainty created by Brexit. As the


UK Sales Manager for a company based in Europe, it has created a lot of questions.


DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANYONE STARTING OUT IN THE INDUSTRY?


Listen! Listen to the end users, listen to your distribution partners, listen to the technical experts and take knowledge from everywhere you can to add to your own individual learning.


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HOW DO YOU LIKE TO UNWIND? Running has always been my passion. It keeps


my body and mind healthy, and helps me to unwind at the end of a long day, or gets me moving in the morning. When travelling around the UK, I always try to ensure that the hotel has a gym or good running routes nearby.


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WHAT CAREER WOULD YOU LIKE IF YOU WEREN’T DOING THIS?


An Olympic athlete. Unfortunately, I was nowhere near quick enough so I’ll have to stick with selling shoes, for now.


www.haix.co.uk www.tomorrowshs.com


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