Meet The Team
Across our business, every member of our team from operations, to warehouse, to HR and beyond plays an integral part of maintaining our reputation for being a food supply chain expert. They allow us to continuously offer the highest quality service for every customer, big or small.
If you’re thinking of joining the Fowler Welch team, take a look at a ‘day in the life’ of some of our staff to give you a little more insight into what a typical day is like in the business.
Dan Blakey
Who are you?
Dan Blakey, Stock Controller – Tulip Account, Spalding
What is the role?
Fowler Welch’s Tulip account has dedicated stock controllers who work 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The role includes site specific reporting in real time, investigating incidents, maintaining the warehouse and maximising efficiencies. The stock controllers also liaise with the customers and manage the pickers to ensure the correct stock is going to the right places.
Skills and experience
I spend a lot of my day talking to customers and understanding their needs, I need to be quick to react to issues, but be able to provide detailed information in real time, as the customer asks.
A typical day
I work a rota of four days on and four days off. I start at 6am and take a review from the previous stock controller on productivity through the night and any issues that have occurred and if there is anything I need to take over.
By 9am all the current stock reports have been sent to the customer and all KPIs are up to date. I then do physical checks on the stock to make sure it’s in good order and matches the KPIs. I then check the warehouse to ensure it’s in a clean and safe state for the pickers to start work.
The afternoon consists of liaising with the customer on loads coming in and going out, helping the picker with any issues. I then ensure all the KPIs for the day are completed and send them to the customers’ sites and then complete my day at 6pm.
How does your role work with others in the business?
Ensuring the customer and the management team are clear on stock availability and rotation is very important to the business and it allows both of them make decisions and ensures a clear and transparent relationship.
What word would sum up your role?
Detailed
About Dan
Dan lives close to Spalding with his partner and two small children. He loves to play golf when he can, although shift patterns and babies mean he doesn’t play as often as he would like!
Lee Crosby
Who are you?
Lee Crosby, Warehouse Operative, Picking, Washington
What is the role?
As a warehouse operative, my role consists of loading and unloading products and orders as required and I ensure that orders are picked accurately and efficiently. As well as this, one of my responsibilities is to report any trailer or MHE faults that may occur before they create delays in the supply chain.
Skills and experience
I can drive every MHE in building and happily take to other jobs as they arise. I’m able to cover most roles in our warehouse.
A typical day
My shift usually starts at 10am, as I arrive I put on my additional clothing which I need as the temperatures are very cold in the large fridge that I work in. It gets to around 1-3 degrees maximum so extra clothing is definitely needed!
I start by looking at the hand-held device which has all the orders on that I’ll be picking for the day. Once the first order is activated it then tells me which area to go to first and how much to pick, I then secure the order with pallet wrap, print out the paperwork and attach it to the order.
I continue to do this until all the orders are complete; once they are done I assist with the offload of stock into the warehouse for our consolidation operation, and towards the end of my shift will load some of the trailers for despatch. My shift finishes at 8pm.
How does your role work with others in the business?
My role is one of the core roles that make the business run smoothly. I’m on the ‘frontline’ of the operation, making sure all of the orders go out exactly as needed and are 100% accurate all the time.
What word would sum up your role?
Organised
About Lee
Lee has been with Fowler Welch for ten years and lives local to the depot. He works on a shift basis normally working from 10am to 8pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Lee has a real passion outside work for cars and his family.
Martyn Culy
Who are you?
Martyn Culy, Driver, Spalding
What is the role?
I’m a class one HGV driver based at the Spalding depot working for the Tulip account. I transport haulage across the country, Monday to Friday.
Skills and experience
Martin has been driving HGVs for eight years, previously with George Adams and Wincanton.
A typical day
I usually start my day any time after 8am. Once I arrive at the depot, I’ll check in at driver briefing to get the details and paperwork for the allocated cab and trailer.
Then once I’ve found the cab I’m driving for the day, I do my necessary checks on the cab and trailer. When I’m happy to leave I set off on my journey which can be as close as 10 miles away or over 100 miles away.
Once I’ve arrived at the Tulip sites, I book in and wait for the trailer to be unloaded; often I will have containers to be returned to the Spalding site. I check that the load is the same as the paperwork, complete my checks and paperwork and return to Spalding. I could do between four and six journeys in a day depending on requirements.
How does your role work with others in the business?
I’m a key part of an efficient and fast moving team. I rely on others and others rely on me to be on time so that the supply chain keeps moving and we can supply our customers’ products as and when they are needed.
What word would sum up your role?
Balanced, the best thing about my job is you know what you’re doing from day to day. Some driving jobs you have no idea where you can be tomorrow so the family/work balance is great.
About Martin
Martin has worked for Fowler Welch for three years. He is married with children and four dogs. His wife works as a manager of a local care home, so when not on shift he likes to help out there.
Lance Bettinson
Who are you?
Lance Bettinson, Transport Operations Supervisor, Spalding
What is the role?
As a Transport Operations Supervisor at Spalding, I have a team of nine that report to me on a daily basis – three team leaders and six transport operatives. I ensure that the transport side of the business is well managed, costs are reduced and our transport operations work as efficiently as possible.
Skills and experience
Lance joined the Spalding Depot after finishing a degree in law from the University of Sheffield Hallam. He began his career as a retail operator, going on to despatch operator and then on to transport operations and team leading until his promotion to supervisor.
A typical day
I start my day at 8am and spend the morning going through the night reports from the previous night and following up on any actions that are required.
I typically spend time each day checking in with my team, ensuring any issues are communicated and addressed as quickly as possible. I’ll also spend time reviewing and managing collision investigations to see what can be learnt and ensure this is communicated throughout the business.
I’m very active in working with our sub-contractors, managing margins and assisting them in running their trucks effectively and economically.
I will usually finish at around 6pm once I’ve viewed operations for the next day. I will assist the operators in allocation and efficient planning, before putting a report together for the night team.
How does your role work with others in the business?
I continuously review efficiencies between all depots to improve our margins as a business. I encourage my team to look for backload opportunities from around the country that can improve the company’s revenue stream.
What word would sum up your role?
Fast-paced
About Lance
Lance has been at Fowler Welch for nine years, after joining straight out of university. He enjoys all aspects of sport – including football, cricket and rugby. He attends the gym and has recently run the Lincoln 10k with a view to doing a marathon within the next year.
Natasha Palmer
Who are you?
Natasha Palmer, Administrator, Newton Abbot
What is the role?
As Newton Abbot is a smaller depot, as well as being an administrator I manage a number of other areas including handling driver wages, updating the attendance registers, daily invoicing, and processing purchase ledger invoices. I also assist with vehicle defects, when needed and debrief drivers at end of the day.
Skills and experience
I have a diploma in financial accounting, and have always worked in accounts. This is my first year out of the accounting environment and have learnt so much with a lot more to learn.
A typical day
My duties vary each day but it would typically start with a few of the Tesco stores phoning in to check on where their fresh deliveries are, processing vehicle defects, providing purchase orders and updating the invoice information.
How does your role work with others in the business?
As we are a small depot I work very closely with everyone at our depot – we are a small but close team.
What word would sum up your role?
Diverse
About Natasha
I was born in South Africa and moved over to the UK in January 2016. I started off in the accounts department at Spalding but after only five months of staying in Boson, Lincolnshire we decided once again to take a huge risk by packing up and rerouting the family to stunning Devon. On what was supposed to be my last day at Fowler Welch, Claire at Newton Abbot placed the internal vacancy ad for an administrator – it was fate! We as a family are now truly happy and feel enormously blessed. When I am not at work I am usually on the beach, swapping books at the library or shopping. I do also enjoy festivals as well as meeting up with friends with a glass of good red wine.
Craig Pyatt
Who are you?
Craig Pyatt, Transport Manager, Kent
What is the role?
As the Transport Manager for Kent I look after the day to day running of the transport operation in Teynham and Paddock Wood with responsibility for 50 tractor units, 130 trailers and a team of 114 drivers, two supervisors and a transport operation team.
Skills and experience
I have a national CPC qualification and I have been a manager within logistics for the last 15 years but my working life has always been within this sector.
A typical day
My daily role includes updating the depot KPIs and discussing these in the daily meeting with the senior management team. I liaise with subcontractors daily regarding rates and service along with our suppliers regarding their daily orders and our service to them. I also speak to the drivers daily and address any issues that may have occurred. Due to the number of drivers we have it is hard to speak to every driver individually so I will communicate with them via memos and notices of anything that is important for them to know. I also deal with all the recruitment of the drivers arranging driver assessments and doing interviews to ensure we get the right candidates.
How does your role work with others in the business?
I like to think that I am an ear for anyone that needs it. This includes the staff under my remit as well as warehouse staff who I talk to daily and my peers in other depots. Fowler Welch is a large and complex business which requires a varying skill base to run and there are always people within it that have the experience or the knowledge to deal with a situation. I feel that I am always approachable and keen to help anyone I can on a daily basis.
What word would sum up your role?
Exciting
About Craig
I have been in the business since November 2016 and have over 10 years’ experience in a number of other warehouse roles. I have been married for 15 years and I have two daughters aged 13 and 12 which is a challenge in itself and having to find a way of beating three women to the bathroom can be a dangerous task. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and I also enjoy being active by way of running, cycling and football and I also have a big passion for fishing which gives me time to sit in quiet surroundings away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
