P40 Obituary AT&T Simon Pates (Amended):Layout 1 28/01/2021 15:01 Page 40 Obituary


“Simon leaves behind such a positive legacy”


By Adrian Storr, Managing Director AT&T GB.


The sudden passing of Simon Pates at the end of November was such a great shock to me, his work colleagues and above all his family, with the number of messages and personal tributes I and my colleagues have received since, only going to emphasise just how much he will be missed. The thoughts of all of us at AT&Tare with his parents, his wife Amanda, children Imogen and Dylan, and the rest of his family and we will be doing everything possible to support them through the coming months as they grieve for his loss.


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imon joined AT&T in June 2011 as a business development manager, having previously worked in London


for Newey & Eyre for 25 years and Kew Electrical for three years. It wasn’t just his experience and industry knowledge that caught our attention at his interview, but what struck us most was his passion for wanting to deliver a level of customer service that wasn't oſten seen in the industry, and what we have strived to do ever since. At that time, we thought we were really good at serving our customers well, but Simon soon proved us wrong and took on the mantle to demand even more from all of his colleagues. It would be fair to say that Simon’s demands were a catalyst for change and in particular made us all realise that you must never rest on your laurels when it comes to serving you customers well. It is his positive mantra that is now embedded in our DNA. A close relative who delivered the eulogy at his funeral stated: “Simon was a giant of a man, full of passion and character. He knew his own mind, was confident, competitive and rarely accepted no for an answer.” These words describe exactly how his colleagues and I viewed him and why everyone held him in such high esteem. As a consequence, Simon was appointed as director of operations in 2018, a job which he took on with confidence, stamina and vigour, striving constantly to motivate everyone in the business to pull in the same direction. It wasn’t just at work that Simon was competitive. I’ve since learned from his family that his competitive nature started when he was at primary school in Kent when playing Subbuteo and table tennis with his friends. His love of sport and desire to win pushed him to achieve high standards at a young age, particularly with table tennis and water polo


40 | electrical wholesalerFebruary 2021


which he played at a national level. Simon was keen on most sports including, badminton, squash and football. He was a fan of Arsenal and was often seen on the terraces at Highbury and later the Emirates Stadium to cheer on his team, even following them abroad when he could. However, it was on the golf course that I most


often had to deal with his competitive nature and desire to beat me or anyone else he was playing with. In 2019 Simon joined me on a trip to Augusta to watch the US Masters and, of course, play a few rounds of golf ourselves. He was great company throughout, despite being very annoyed when he lost the opportunity to beat me as we couldn’t play due to a hurricane and tornado. I even heard of one occasion when he played a friend whilst wearing a cast on his ankle and still won! Over the years, AT&T has held a number of charity fundraising events which Simon always


played a major part in organising. These included golf days, cricket matches and auctions with his most recent activity in 2020 being “Movember”, through which he raised more than £5,500 for men’s health. In typical fashion, he persuaded everyone he knew to take part, even if in only a small way. I’m sure that many of you reading this obituary


will have crossed paths with Simon over the years and have experienced this man who was a giant in the industry. His passion for life was second to none, he worked hard, played hard, treated everyone with respect and will be sadly missed. On behalf of the industry which he served for more than 38 years, I want to pass on our sincere condolences to Amanda, Imogen, Dylan and the rest of the family. Thank you for allowing him to be part of our lives as well as your own. He has most certainly left behind a legacy for the AT&T business to build on.


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