Have you always wanted to work for an engineering company?

No. I was initially trained to work in the hospitality industry and had also worked for a bank for a number of years. After I returned to work from having my son, I joined a leasing company to procure commercial fleets for utility companies and emergency services, as well as manage customer accounts and the whole life cost of maintaining their fleets. 

I’d worked with Winton Engineering during this time to convert some of the fleets I was managing, so when I was made redundant from the leasing company, I made the jump to work for them. I was initially only going to work at Winton for six weeks, but I liked it so much that 13 years later, I’m still here!

What skills have you been able to transfer from your previous job to your current role at Winton?

Having worked on the client side, I appreciate what our customers are looking for. Equally, because I work closely with designers and engineers, I can communicate our customers’ requirements to our technical teams so that we can find the right solution.  

I’ve also applied the commercial acumen I got from my previous role to being a Plant Manager at Winton – it’s about getting the optimum balance between engineering and design excellence, and what’s actually needed, and making sure that this goal doesn’t get lost in the process.

How have you acquired the engineering knowledge required for your current role, and what has helped you along that journey?   

As Winton’s business changed, I got more involved in the company and took on different roles over the years, from managing service engineers to production to the financial accounts. The variety really helped me to pick up more and more knowledge along the way, which has given me a solid grounding to now manage the technical, production and design teams as the Plant Manager.

I might not be the one coming up with the right technical answers, but as the company’s Plant Manager, it’s important to ask the right questions and challenge our engineers and designers when necessary-even if it means changing the status quo.

What do you like most about your job?

The variety of challenges and the buzz I get from overcoming them; no two days are the same.

What difference would it make to your industry if more girls took an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) related subjects and careers?

There’re so many exciting developments in the automotive and fleet management industry, such as the adoption of cleaner vehicles and the use of data to give us better insights into fleet operations on the road. But to fully reap the benefits from these developments, we will need the people with the right skills now and well into the future. If we want to widen the pool of talent, we have to encourage more girls into STEM careers. There’s a lot being done to encourage more girls into these subjects at school, so we have to continue dispelling the myth that science and engineering are ‘jobs for the boys’ from grass roots up. 

For further information about using vehicle engine power to drive ancillary equipment on board, please visit www.onvehiclepower.com.