Hear from Adam Smith, customer service manager
Since leaving school at the tender young age of 18 I have always been in the construction industry. I have served my time in all business lines, which you will discover, in a variety of roles. I rebelled against my parents wishes to go to university because of two things, firstly I could not sit in front of any more teachers and lectures learning about potentially something I may not even get involved in within my career choices and secondly I was motivated and driven to stand on my own two feet and earn a living.
My working life started as a Transport Administrator. I dealt with MOT’s, Tax, Fuel Cards, LGV’s and Vans and queries. This gave me great insight to the industry and especially knowledge of Haulage and Compliance. I was then given the opportunity to progress into a Distribution role within our Aggregates and Asphalt division which was a hybrid of all orders, allocating and planning for our Bedfordshire area and I jumped at the chance. I was dealing with customers, hauliers, weighbridges as well as allocating & planning work trying to achieve a high % of On time Delivery as well as targeted on many other KPI’s. I later did an internal movement to take on another region, Hertfordshire, which was arguably Lafarge’s most challenging area. I left his role in 2013 to join Heidelberg Materials UK. This has since proved to be the best decision I have ever made in my career.
At Heidelberg Materials my roles have ranged from Supamix Co-Ordinator, Allocator for Premix, Team Leader for Distribution In both Aggregates and Asphalt as well as Team Leader for Distribution in Concrete and Allocations Controller again for both A&A and Concrete. My Previous role was Regional Manager primarily for Concrete, but I did have a short period where I looked after North Concrete and North A&A combined, this role meant that I had oversight of our Regional Orders, Sales, Planning and Distribution Teams. I have covered every blade of aspahlt across the country within these roles and I have even been involved in two office closures and the centralisation to One MC where we are currently.
hroughout this time there have been challenges but many, many rewarding moments, and the support from the management team in my career progression has been incredible and without them I know I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am truly privileged to work around so many great people who are always there for each other and together we strive to make Heidelberg Materials a great place to work but also a great business to work for. Heidelberg Materials are always looking to progress our employees and provide the best training both internally and externally to enhance their career progression and I am grateful for that as I was given the chance to do my International and National Certificate of Professional Competence course in Transport and Haulage. This course has benefited me in my most recent roles.
My latest role as Customer Service Manager in Concrete has evolved over the past 12/18 months. Within this role our main aim is to help improve the business whether that be process, easier to deal with, offer a better customer service, managing cost all to improve and make the Concrete Business line profitable and a sustainable business. Seeing the successes we have had over this period is the reason why I enjoy the work I do and it is made better by the people I work with.