MEET THE TEAM – PHIL
What do you do at Polyfoam XPS?
The title is National Sales Manager, but day-to-day my role is more multi-faceted than that might suggest. My main responsibilities are for developing new business, as well as servicing existing accounts. That means speaking to insulation distributors, and dealing with their enquiries.
The side that isn’t so much sales is closely working with my colleagues in different departments – those in the office and the factory, and in particular our Technical and Specification Manager, Rob Firman. Together, Rob and I work on things like marketing and advertising.
How did your career path bring you to Polyfoam XPS?
That’s a long road! The simple answer is that I’ve been in the industry in one form or another since leaving school.
For the first five or six years I had a hands-on role with a building refurb firm. Then I started as an assistant buyer, and spent six or seven years doing that. As a buyer you’re constantly talking to people, so when an area sales manager opportunity came up, I applied for it.
That was the start of my career in sales. It came quite naturally thanks to knowing the industry well. The biggest change was the lonely life on the road – there can be tough aspects to sales roles that people don’t always appreciate. I worked for Celcon, Knauf Drywall and Kingspan, and in the timber/steel frame sector, before joining SIG’s housebuilding team. Then I arrived at Polyfoam XPS.
What are you most proud at having achieved at Polyfoam XPS so far?
Building a team and moving the business forward. The Polyfoam name has been around for 40 years, so communicating that longevity and experience is important as part of raising awareness. Bringing things up to date through marketing, advertising and launching a new website is all designed to better promote the Polyfoam name, and we’re seeing the fruits of those changes.
What projects or innovations most excite you for the future?
For Polyfoam as a company, it’s growing the team and growing our specification audience. More widely, expanding awareness of XPS and growing the Polyfoam brand in a more competitive marketplace is exciting. Once there were just one or two XPS manufacturers, but now there are four or five selling into the UK. That brings new challenges, but also new opportunities.
What is something about working at Polyfoam XPS that might surprise people?
Our technical and sales teams are quite spread out geographically, so something that might surprise people is the pride associated with being a business in the north east.
The factory in Hartlepool has a loyal and proud workforce of honest and hard-working people, who are all friendly and all pull together in the right direction. Several have been there for 20 or 25 years, and some from day one when the business started 40 years ago. There’s a lot of experience and longevity, which we don’t necessarily shout about enough.
How is the built environment changing for the better?
Following 2024’s election, the change of government seems like it will kickstart housebuilding and refocus the construction industry on sustainability targets. That will help the industry after a very challenging and relatively slow time, so I think it’ll be a promising few years with fresh impetus.
What are your hobbies outside work?
I enjoy sport, and have always played and watched football. I’m a keen Birmingham City supporter, though I’m not sure I want to advertise that! I’ve played golf for 30 years off a single figure handicap, which I’m very proud of. Also love travelling with my partner, especially across Europe. Portugal is one of my favourite places, and the golf isn’t bad there.
What job would you like to have done in another industry?
Thirty or forty years ago I’d have liked to have been a golf pro in Portugal!
It’s still construction-related, but with enough finance I would have liked to do property development as a profession. I wouldn’t relish living on a building site, but working full time on refurbishing an old property is something I could see myself doing.
What’s a fun fact that people probably don’t know about you?
Back in the day, I once appeared as a guest on This Is Your Life, when Michael Aspel was the host.
Anyone who likes sport the same as me might find it interesting that I once watched the Leyland DAF Cup Final at Wembley from the Royal Box.