MEET THE TEAM – GARY
What do you do at Polyfoam XPS?
The main function of my role as Business Development Manager for the North and Scotland is supporting key accounts.
I also look after the branch network, visiting and promoting Polyfoam products. There’s still a widespread practice of calling all insulation products by a single brand name, like calling all vacuum cleaners ‘Hoovers’. So there’s a need to promote the Polyfoam name.
Going out and finding new customers is part of the new role too, promoting the unique aspects of Polyfoam’s products and business. Overall, you can sum up everything I do as providing all-round good service.
How did your career path bring you to Polyfoam XPS?
I started in the family industrial roofing business in 1985, working my way up from labourer to company director by 1990. We mainly served big companies on the industrial side, but also worked on listed buildings and churches for the diocese, and schools for the local authority.
In 2018, I decided to leave the business. The plan was to take some time off, but I got an interview with SIG and joined them to develop flat roofing content for training and deliver it to staff in branches nationwide. The pandemic led to running sessions online, and I stopped enjoying the role as much. After taking voluntary redundancy, the opportunity with Polyfoam came up.
Compared to being a company director for nearly thirty years, I’ve enjoyed being a ‘cog in the machine’. I’ve enjoyed a lot of respect from colleagues I’ve worked with. As a director, you only get hassle! And you’re essentially working seven days a week.
What are you most proud at having achieved at Polyfoam XPS so far?
Delivering great service for clients, especially ones who want non-stock items or work with us on something new.
Sometimes people don’t really know what they want and we put in a lot of work with them. When the result of that work is an order, we tend to find we don’t lose them as a client. They stay with us because we’ve invested time in them and they see that effort.
What projects or innovations most excite you for the future?
Our new production line opens up lots of possibilities for developing new products. There are big areas that our business could grow into with the capabilities the line gives us. We can start to think outside the box and make sure we don’t stand still as a company. I’m relishing the exciting conversations we’ll be able to have.
What is something about working at Polyfoam XPS that might surprise people?
It’s the way we work. Everyone, from the Managing Director down, works as a close team. We don’t work in silos and we all pull together.
Everyone’s door is always open. For technical queries I can speak to Rob Firman; for pricing I can speak to Phil Hodges. People might be surprised how close-knit the team is, because you don’t find it in many other companies.
How is the built environment changing for the better?
When I was in the family business, a waterproofing manufacturer suddenly started coming to the site we were working on. They needed to do temperature checks, so we asked if there was a problem. They told us no. Not long after, the roof was ripped off the building. That year we used the same product on 36 different roofs, and every single one ripped off. The manufacturer paid compensation and redid the work, but then simply left the market. For us, it did a lot of reputational damage with clients that it was a struggle to recover.
The manufacturer lied to us, and I’ve unfortunately seen a lot of that dishonest culture in the construction industry. I do think things are changing though. Especially after the outcome of the Grenfell inquiry, I expect us to all see more transparency and people being held to account.
Being out on the road and visiting customers and distributors, I do still encounter some people promising the earth – especially young guys trying to make a name for themselves. I’m old in the tooth now, so that doesn’t matter for me! But we do need to be making sure that customers are being offered the right solution for their needs, and not just being told what they want to hear.
What are your hobbies outside work?
My wife and I have started travelling again. When my two daughters were younger, they had ponies and competed at a high level. We spent our weekends driving them around the country and our evenings at the stables. At one point we had six horses, but we’re down to one now and it’s allowed us to get away. We’ve done five cruises in the last twelve months and my wife has already got a spreadsheet set up to plan for next year!
What job would you like to have done in another industry?
I really enjoyed working in a training role. Being out and about, delivering face-to-face presentations and hands-on training is rewarding, especially when you then see people putting the knowledge you gave them to good use.
What’s a fun fact that people probably don’t know about you?
I met Princess Anne at a burger van at a horse show. It was one of those surreal moments. I thought, ‘I know your face’, and I just said, “Hiya!”
My wife had sent me to get coffee because I was annoying her, so I asked Princess Anne if she was there for a similar reason. She must have been annoying her daughter because she said, “Yes, I’ve been sent out of the way for a while.”