L-R: Workshop Manager Chris Cassidy, apprentice plant technician Jordan Oliver and Foxies MD Rob Fox. HEAVY HITTER
Is there such a thing as being too busy? The owner of Foxies doesn’t think so, although he and his team have as much work than they can handle – and then some.
F
oxies Industrial and Engineering Supplies is a rarity, in being one of the
only hirers providing equipment for shutdowns and maintenance of the major food and petrochemical industries in the Humber Estuary. Owner Rob Fox is continuously swamped as a result, but doesn’t seem unhappy with his lot. Meanwhile, he talks with the speed of man who has better things to be getting on with, and we fit much into a relatively short visit. We begin with an introduction – how did the company get started?
“I started work for a local valve and engineering firm, working on most of the petrochemical sites and steel works. Then I joined a local hire company called Tool and Engineering Services (TES Ltd) and I worked there for 25 years,” says Rob.
“The owner later retired and sold his company to Sunbelt, and I thought if I didn’t
do something at that point, it was never going to be. After all, I had been in the game long enough, I knew all the people and the sites. So I jumped ship and set up on my own six years ago. Every customer I used to deal with at TES, I now deal with here.
“Ultimately, people invest in people. We were a small company to begin with and we still are, so we try even harder to provide the very best service for our customers. However, it keeps us on our toes.”
Finding a slot in Rob’s hyperbusy schedule certainly attests to brisk trading, but setting up a company after so many years working for another must have presented a few challenges. Were there any hurdles to leap along the way?
“We were busy from the beginning, but the biggest stumbling blocks for me was
becoming an approved supplier for our customers and sorting out all the health and safety issues,” Rob explains.
“The word ‘no’ is not in my vocabulary, though, and what we’re finding now is we’re receiving a lot of word-of-mouth recommendations. I often say to clients that if I can’t get hold of a piece of kit, they’ll probably struggle to find it locally. We are always happy to go the extra mile for our customers.
“Industrial shutdowns are round-the-clock operations, so if a client needs an item at 5.30am on a Sunday morning, I’ll deliver it personally and the job can carry on uninterrupted. It’s no skin off my back, as I’m an early riser anyway. That was for BP Saltend Chemicals in Hull. It’s a bit outside of our usual territory, but if we had more of a presence on that side of the Humber we’d be even bigger and busier.”
26 Executive Hire News - September 2021
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