PEOPLE
10 MINUTES WITH: STEVE BENNETT
Managing Director of Dura Products Ltd
What is your current role and how long have you been doing it?
I am the Managing Director of Dura Products Ltd. I started with the business in June 2018.
What does your role entail?
A central part of the role has been reconnecting the Dura brand with the marketplace. Although Durakerb has been with us since 2003, our drainage solutions were relatively new to the market at the time. We drew up a five-year plan for substantial growth across all products, year on year, and I am happy to say that we are well on our way to achieving this goal and already looking at the next five years.
How did you get started in this industry? Like many people, the choice was initially made by the job centre after leaving college. I was sent to a builders merchant in Newton Heath, Manchester; before that point, I didn’t know what a builders merchant was, or what it did.
What roles were you doing before? I started as a building counter assistant in 1983, before working for two specialist civils merchants based in the North West. I started my own business in 2000, supplying merchants with varied and technical drainage systems. I sold the business in 2007, thankfully before the financial crash, before taking a year off – the best thing I ever did. I returned to the industry in 2009, working with a manufacturer in Sheffield who specialised in sustainable products. My role then was in the development of new sustainable products and systems where I stayed until I was offered this role.
What would you like to achieve in your role? Achieving sizable growth, year on year. We have to make a living and business growth is often the measure of success, both commercially and on a personal level. Continuing to produce and sell products that lower the environmental footprint of construction projects is the overarching goal, and a deeply satisfying one at that. Our product Durakerb, for example, is manufactured from 88% recycled plastic content. The more we sell, the more successful we are, and the bigger the positive net impact reductions become.
What has been the highlight of your career? To be honest, as strange as it sounds, one of the main highlights was my year off. I felt it was a reward for the extra work and responsibility I put in to growing the business to the point of selling it, as well as creating careers and opportunities for others. My kids were still young-ish then so it was a great time to take a career break.
What do you see as the main issues? Things have changed in the way we do just about everything since Covid hit. Having been to see a few merchants recently, the consensus now is that business is looking good, there are challenges with supply and rising costs but, on balance, sales and profits are up. The challenges are now in how we go forward, how we create growth and how we equally reduce environmental impact. After years of talking about climate change and sustainability, we are now finally seeing action in the industry where growth is not just coming from doing more of the same, but in improving what we offer in everything we do as a business.
What piece of advice would you give yourself at the start of your career? It’s difficult to say as you need to experience the journey before the advice can be fully appreciated, That said, I would probably say, just get on with it. Understand and keep focusing on your own role within the business and how that works relative to the objectives of the business as a whole. Then do what you are paid to do, and do it as best as you can. Then, when you are at home, enjoy living each day.
What keeps you busy at the weekends? I do tend to switch off completely now at the weekend. Me and my partner, Karen will take the dog to the woods or the beach. The kids are now in their 30’s but they still need things doing. I play a few instruments, as a hobby, and we like to cook well, using fresh ingredients with lots of wine. Monday comes round pretty quickly.
If you’re at the bar – what are you drinking? Generally, a pint of ale or lager, sometimes a G&T or a malt whisky.
What’s your favourite book? Favourite film? I don’t have a favourite book necessarily although I do occasionally read Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy and supposedly boring, factual accounts of British and European History which I find really interesting.
If you could be a superhero, what super- power would you choose?
As I now live in Wigan I would get respect as a pie-man, or a “super” pie man. The power to make or eat exceptional pies, or both. BMJ
ON THE MOVE
Flexseal has appointed Steve Rodgerson and David Millward to the roles of Key Account Manager – Civils and Key Account Manager – Independents, respectively.
Jerrell Paton has joined Actis as its new East of England area sales manager. A key part of his role will be running training sessions and trade days for their sales teams and providing educational materials about Actis’ products.
James Day has been appointed Area Sales Manager – South at Kinedo, having spent 18 years in the plumbing sector as Manager of two different merchants in Sussex.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net May 2022
Simon Bourne has taken on the role of Chief Operating Officer, at Marshalls plc, having most recently been Group Operations Director. Ian Dean has become Managing Director for Landscape and Building Products at Marshalls, having worked for the business since August 2020, when he joined to manage several specific business divisions. Before joining Marshalls, Ian was Managing Director of Knauf. Marshalls has also appointed Louise Furness to drive strategy and change as Chief People and ESG Officer.
Jewson Civils Frazer has appointed Graeme Price as technical services manager, a brand-new role within the business. Price has over 30 years’ experience, working for some of the civil industry’s biggest material’s manufacturers.
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