Are you a lifer? If yes, how do you see your career panning out over the next 20/30/40 years? Yes, absolutely. I am 3rd generation in the business and love it! I love the team, the customers big and small, the challenges, the opportunities, the progress, plus all the other people I have met in the industry along the way who help and support our company.
How has the industry changed since you started? The products have changed exponentially with the advent of advancing technology, but the adage of Sales / Quality / Value and Service remain the same. I am passionate about helping the customer achieve what they really need in the most efficient way and we try and always educate our customers about quality and only using the right oil for the right application. With the back-up of the UKLA, UEIL and VLS this has improved. Some of the global OEMs are still painful with restrictive practises and lack of access to specifications for machines and vehicles, but again, the issue has always been there and will always be a reason to keep educating and improving.
What do you like about the industry? And what would you change if you could? I love the constant changes and challenges of this industry. The fact you have to work for everything you get and the constant opportunities which are out there. To change, I’d get rid of all the dishonest companies who do not put in their drums what the label says! I really feel that this practice should these days carry a much stiffer sentence, but notification through VLS and LUBE Media will have to suffice!
What challenges do you think the industry faces? In your role and as a whole? Challenges are what we are all about, there will always be product shortages, end of technology runs, pricing issues, margin shortages, cleaning up our fossil fuel industry for the environment and future generations, developing better processing and blending technologies and cleaner alternatives, the list goes on but it is how you wake up every morning to deal with them and with a positive attitude and collective thinking, anything is possible! My role will remain and I will keep pushing hard to ensure the values of the company continue up until I sit at the Boardroom table and utter the words “hmm, I like your idea but we tried that sometime ago and it wouldn’t work,” When I say this, it’s time for someone else to find a solution and move the company on!
LUBE MAGAZINE NO.176 AUGUST 2023 57
How do you balance work life with home life? I think pretty well, but my family are very understanding with my need to work and travel and respond to customer and colleague queries. It is all about discipline and keeping to your mantra when being away and trusting your team to get on with the job.
I have also always accepted that you cannot do everything yourself and no business should revolve around one person.
Favourite quote?
I have lots, but I do like ‘there is no replacement for displacement’ which stems back to how big an engine you could squeeze into a ‘90s & 2000s car (before the fun police restricted us through insurance!)
www.withamgroup.co.uk
The expanded version of this interview is available online at
lube-media.com/digital-excluisves
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