Wilsonbrook
Wilsonbrook
  • Home
  • About
  • For Individuals
  • For Companies
  • Current assignments
  • Services
  • Founder, Team & Network
  • Sectors & Functions
  • Contacting each other
  • News
  • Previous assignments
  • Previous assignments 2
  • Subscribe
    • Home
    • About
    • For Individuals
    • For Companies
    • Current assignments
    • Services
    • Founder, Team & Network
    • Sectors & Functions
    • Contacting each other
    • News
    • Previous assignments
    • Previous assignments 2
    • Subscribe
  • Home
  • About
  • For Individuals
  • For Companies
  • Current assignments
  • Services
  • Founder, Team & Network
  • Sectors & Functions
  • Contacting each other
  • News
  • Previous assignments
  • Previous assignments 2
  • Subscribe

Supplier Performance Manager

Join a market leader and improve the performance of their suppliers!

This is an excellent opportunity with a market leading business, probably the biggest company you’ve never heard of! They have grown successfully over recent years, both organically and via acquisition. 

They operate from over 170 locations UK wide with over 2000 employees. 


They were the first company in their sector to voluntarily support their customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, they’ve supported their staff – no-one was furloughed. They’re also very strong financially – they didn’t need to utilise the various government support schemes. They have a strong balance sheet and are focused on further growth. They expect 2020/21 to be one of their best years ever! They have a powerful vision – to provide the best environment possible for their customers. Their values actually mean something to the business, with employees living and breathing them on a daily basis - they're not just a set of words on a website or a wall.


They have identified an opportunity to improve their approach to procurement by introducing new specialist roles and conducting a full end to end review of their procurement strategy: how they buy, who they buy from, the size and scope of their supplier portfolio across key categories, developing stronger relationships with their suppliers: all the while keeping in mind what their customers really want and need. Along the way they expect to identify and deliver significant savings!


Hence they are strengthening their procurement team to develop and deliver this strategy and need a new Supplier Performance Manager for the key category of Operations


PURPOSE OF THE JOB

Reporting to the Procurement and Supply Chain Director, Providing supplier management support to the business, most notably in Operations for key areas of the supply chain. These areas will include timely delivery of products, quality of delivery of services and adherence to service level agreements agreed by the relevant Procurement Manager. 


KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Performance Support for

  • Provision of Goods, including large products and high-volume spares
  • Central Non-IT Services such as waste collection or pest control
  • Operationally led reactive services such as  cleaning, grounds maintenance or glazing services
  • In addition, the provision of supplier recommendations to procurement managers and operational customers.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • The design, implementation and management of a vendor management framework to enable proactive supplier performance management, ensuring high quality experience for their Operational customers.
  • The fostering of good relationships and rapport with internal stakeholders, most notably Operational Leadership including Head of Operations.
  • Demonstrate best practice supplier relationship management. 
  • Provision of timely support and problem-solving ability to city colleagues, including supplier escalations      where appropriate.
  • Collate and feedback supplier performance statistics to procurement managers to aid competitive tendering processes.      
  • Escalate issues as appropriate to functional Director. 
  • Uncover efficiency opportunities within the day-to-day performance of the supply chain.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

  • Commercial intuition to proactively identify savings opportunities and unlock the maximum possible benefit, including ‘value-add’ supplier offerings
  • Mediation skills to resolve performance issues and disputes
  • Ability to build relationships and rapport internally and externally
  • Ability to profile and manage supply chain risks 
  • Demonstrable experience in driving an improvement in supplier performance to the benefit of a complex set of internal stakeholders. 
  • Data analysis skills that enable supplier performance to be easily articulated to internal stakeholders.

This is a great opportunity with a well-established, successful company, with the chance to significantly improve how they go about procurement and their relationships with suppliers. Good career development opportunities are also available.


The business is encouraging diversity in every sense and therefore we welcome applications from all, as long as you have relevant experience as outlined above.


The head office is near Bristol. There is some flexibility re working from home for part of the week, however suitable candidates should still live within a daily commutable distance.


There is a competitive salary, bonus, pension and other benefits.


To apply send your CV to matt@wilsonbrook.com or call 07517 470025 for a confidential discussion 

image687

Indirect Procurement Manager

Join a market leader on the cusp of the FTSE100!

This is an excellent opportunity with a market-leading business, probably the biggest company you’ve never heard of! They have grown successfully over recent years, both organically and via acquisition. They operate from over 170 locations UK wide with over 2000 employees. 


They were the first company in their sector to voluntarily support their customers during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time they’ve supported their staff – no-one was furloughed. They’re also very strong financially – they didn’t need to utilise the various government support schemes. They have a strong balance sheet and are focused on further growth. They expect 2020/21 to be one of their best years ever! They have a powerful vision – to provide the best environment possible for their customers. Their values actually mean something to the business, with employees living and breathing them on a daily basis - they're not just a set of words on a website or a wall.


They have identified an opportunity to improve their approach to procurement by introducing new specialist roles and conducting a full end to end review of their procurement strategy: how they buy, who they buy from, the size and scope of their supplier portfolio across key categories, developing stronger relationships with their suppliers: all the while keeping in mind what their customers really want and need. Along the way, they expect to identify and deliver significant savings!


Hence they are strengthening their procurement team to develop and deliver this strategy and need a new Indirect Procurement Manager for the key category of Operations


Potential candidates should have:

  • At least 5 years in a similar procurement role – purchasing indirect goods and services in a business with a sizeable portfolio of properties –  exactly what those properties are used for is not important
  • Examples  of such goods and services include technical planned preventative maintenance services (e.g. lift and boiler inspections), bulk procurement  (e.g. white goods and furniture), major services (e.g. waste collection  and pest control), high volume spares (e.g.
  • A successful track record in implementing/improving a modern progressive procurement/category management strategy in a business of comparable size and complexity
  • Based within reasonable commuting distance of Bristol where their head office is based, although this role is not necessarily based 5 days per week in the office – some of the time will be spent visiting suppliers (if they’re not visiting you) and also travelling around the country building relationships with people in the business. There will also be a flexible approach with scope to work from home      several days a week
  • Commercial intuition to proactively identify savings opportunities and unlock the maximum possible benefit
  • Ability to negotiate complex commercial agreements
  • Ability to build relationships and rapport – especially with the senior operational leadership team
  • A ‘customer-first mindset’ to ensure the supply requirements of the business are fully understood 
  • Ability to profile and manage supply chain risks (including sole supply, sustainability, governance, reputational and suchlike)
  • Extensive category management experience and ideally fully or part CIPS qualified (or equivalent qualification) with a desire to continue to develop.


This is a great opportunity with a well-established, successful company, with the chance to significantly improve how they go about procurement. Good career development opportunities are also available.


The business is encouraging diversity in every sense and therefore we welcome applications from all, as long as you have relevant experience as outlined above.  


There is a competitive salary, bonus, pension and other benefits.


To apply send your CV to matt@wilsonbrook.com or call 07517 470025 for a confidential discussion 

image688

Commercial Director - Elliotts Builders Merchants

A fantastic opportunity to join a long-established, successful business

If you’ve been checking the market for the one job that could make you leap out of bed each morning, then look no further!


Are you looking for a business with the feel of being family-run, but with a drive to improve and grow? Are you brimming with excitement about the idea of having a free rein to get on with it? If so, then this is the role for you.

We’re restructuring the roles in the leadership team to align us more closely with our strategy; a strategy that is unapologetically focused on customers. The person in this role will bring a sales and customer focus to commercial; balancing growing margin % and growing our share of wallet (customer spend).

The role starts with understanding what customers want to buy, sourcing those products at the best possible price, and then working hard to maximise our share of wallet and increasing profitability. In essence, maximising our profit through the products we sell.


We are looking for a Commercial Director who enables us to offer everything that specialists do, but under a generalist builder’s merchant roof.


At Elliotts, we’re clearly doing something right - Been around for over 175 years

We have been helping our customers to build for 178 years! Our managing director, Tom, is the great-great-great grandson of our founder


Still chosen by customers in a crowded market

Customers continue to choose us because we can provide anything that they need to build a house…but that’s just a hygiene factor. They choose us because we treat them like human beings, creating a strong relationship and building loyalty


With loyal people who like working for us

We have a history of treating people really well…not just putting it on a poster

During the COVID pandemic, in 2020, we paid everyone who was furloughed 100% of their salary and avoided a redundancy programme


Values that reflect our business

We look after our team. We care. We listen. We try to help.

We work harder than anyone else to put things right if they go wrong.

We think about the long term, not just the here and now.


Agile approach to business despite our age

We don’t have budgets, because they constrain our ability to respond to changes in the market

Instead, we review potential investment decisions every month

Not what you’d expect from such an old business


And financial results that suggest it’s working!

It’s also nice to see we can measure our success in our financial results

Despite the COVID pandemic, we will make a healthy profit again in 2020


We are recruiting for a role that is vital to our strategy

The primary goal of this role is to ensure that we’re highly effective at supplying everything our customers need. You will drive increased gross profit by enabling more sales of our products to our existing customers. You will also bring in new products that better meet our customers’ needs. This role is focused on the product side of sales, with a constant push to maximise margin %


Identifying the right products for our customers

Whilst buying the right products at the right price will lead to success, this isn’t just a procurement role. The role is about understanding what products and services our customers need, and ensuring that we have them

Building and maintaining brilliant relationships with our suppliers will be key in supporting our customers with insight, availability, and innovation

We estimate that we currently get c25% of our top customers’ spend. Our focus is on growing this as we have a fantastic opportunity to get more out of what we already have

To succeed, we need to provide a specialist merchant offer under a generalist roof


Whilst maximising margin %

We want someone who knows how to grow our share of spend with customers and maximise our margin %

You’ll need to be able to stand up for what you believe in (e.g. maintaining higher price in shortage market), but build mutually beneficial relationships with sales teams

You will oversee our price management framework; controlling our list prices and having oversight of our customer terms structure

Your strong relationships with our suppliers will ensure that we have the best possible deals, and that they are simply structured


For someone who is driven to deliver, but wants to get it right first time


Want to get stuff done

You believe in getting things right, and are rarely afraid to state your mind robustly and directly

You believe pace of action is important and this is demonstrated in the energy that you bring to your work


But do it right

Whilst pace is important, attention to detail really matters to you; the idea of simply “winging it” fills you with dread

But you can cope with ambiguity, remaining open-minded and flexible


The right long-term appointment

We are looking to add a key role to the leadership team assembled by Tom since succeeding his father. This appointment is important to us, and one that we hope will be for the long term


Keeping it local

We like to keep it local, so we would like you to be located in, or within easy commuting distance of, our trading area

This is a visible leadership role; an ivory tower approach will not work and you’ll need to get out and about


Relevant experience is not essential, but would help


Commercial role

A broad commercial background encompassing procurement, pricing, product, marketing, and merchandising


Multi-site

A good understanding of how a multi-site business works


Sales

A track record of driving more sales to existing customers from a product perspective

Knowledge of how to maximise trading and margin opportunities: cross-selling, up-selling, bundling etc.


Customer focus

An appreciation of the balance between providing an excellent service, whilst improving margin


Leading teams and influencing

Experience of delivering a strategy through diverse teams; a mixture of resource from across the business and direct reports


The practical details… warts and all


Decent financial package, although not as much as a FTSE100 company

We offer a competitive package to attract the very best

The successful candidate will be paid a basic salary, leadership bonus, car allowance and the usual benefits


A working environment that is fun

A strong, inclusive culture with a ‘family feel’

Work hard and have fun

Open and friendly

Flexibility that works both ways

All the support and training you need to develop your career with us


Central Southampton location

We’re based on our original site on an industrial site just around the corner from St Mary’s stadium (Southampton Football Club’s ground)


Slightly tired office, due a refurb

Our office isn’t as old as our business, but it’s looking a bit tired. We do have future plans to update it


Working for the MD

The role reports into Tom Elliott, our managing director (MD), alongside a newly restructured leadership team.



There is a competitive salary, bonus and benefits package. To apply please send your CV to neil@wilsonbrook.com or call 07796 542641 for a confidential discussion  



image689

Product Design Engineer - consumer products

A great opportunity to join a growing business in a fast growing product category!

This is an excellent opportunity to join a well-established and category-leading manufacturer of specialist small domestic electro-mechanical and electronic devices. This category is growing at over 25% per annum! They have a great reputation and global distribution channels via Amazon and other specialist retailers. They have traded successfully through the Covid-19 lockdown. Indeed they've experienced record months recently and have brought forward investment in a number of areas within their business: IoT enabling technology, rebranding and a new website, and finally SAP implementation.


They are now embarking on a period of exciting growth under a new MD and ownership with investments being made into the business to facilitate such growth. The business has a successful history with a good track record of profitability, is highly cash generative and has a long-serving employee base.


There are several key strategies which will enable them to grow:


1. Enhance existing products – via incremental value-added enhancements requiring engineering changes and changes in the bill of materials – quite simple but can add a lot of value.

2. New Product Introduction: 1. New mechanical products & 2. IoT/app controlled/web-enabled products – so instead of having a product mounted electronic control and display the products will link via wifi to an app on the users smartphone – allowing remote control wherever the user may be

3. Raise the bar in terms of how the business operates – historically it’s been quite centralised around the previous MD and paper-based. The new MD wants to engage with and empower the workforce, getting them to think for themselves, coming forward with new ideas and at the same working smarter via better utilisation of technology and world-class manufacturing and engineering systems and standards


Having recently recruited a new Design & Development Manager they are now looking to expand the team and recruit several Product Design Engineers


Naturally, we're looking for people with experience in similar roles in a similar environment.  Ideally, degree qualified, experienced with mechanical and electrical/electronic consumer products.  Any experience with web-enabled/smart/app-controlled products would be a distinct advantage. 


In addition:


· You will need to apply strong 3D CAD skills (preferably CREO), design for manufacture and engineering principles with an appreciation for industrial design, ergonomics and aesthetics, to ensure design intent is carried all the way through from concept to manufacture. 

· You will bring energy and passion along with inquisitive and critical thinking to bridge between industrial design and engineering disciplines.

· Your opinion and perspectives are valued and encouraged within their open culture. You should be confident in your abilities and open to imparting your experiences with the wider team in the pursuit of pushing boundaries and striving for continual improvement and growth.


JOB ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
 

CONCEPT GENERATION AND PROTOTYPING

· Support front-end innovation to research, understand and define real consumer problems, challenging conventional thinking and truly ground NPD in tangible insights.

· Actively engage in ideation workshops and design sprints – bringing your design & engineering skills and experience to the forefront.

· Create inventive, appropriate, and practical technical concepts and experiences – visualising solutions through engaging mediums and effectively communicating concepts to cross-functional teams.

· Work alongside the Design, Marketing and Operations teams to rapidly define, develop and build early concept prototypes, embedding real-world manufacturability with technical and commercial feasibility for evaluation by the business.


NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS


· Progress concepts through detailed design using 3D CAD and develop into well-performing, reliable, and robust solutions ready for manufacture.

· Manage prototype testing, validation, performance analysis and design justification reports.

· Develop mechanical and electromechanical systems of varying complexity, including integration and specification of PCB and electrical designs.

· Employ sound understanding of manufacturing processes and materials application with awareness of technical and cost constraints: injection, blow and rotational moulding, casting, pressing, machining, extrusion, and sheet metal fabrication.

· Own individual projects and seek to engage with wider cross-functional teams, sourcing and collaborating with suppliers to ensure designs are delivered to meet target cost and time constraints.

· Work within the Design team to bring your knowledge and specialism of technology and engineering to support colleague’s projects, whilst actively engaging other team members’ capabilities on your own projects.

 
 

IMPLEMENTATION FOR MANUFACTURE AND TESTING


· Project manage comprehensive data sets and meticulously transfer detailed designs into production, generating technical component and assembly drawings, BOMs, production specifications and reports.

· Regular liaison with technical and QA teams – UK & China.

· Review prototype and manufacturing builds – conducting tolerance analysis, DFMEA and performance criteria evaluations.

· Support QA processes and ECR’s (Engineering Change Requests) to ensure products are optimised for launch and beyond.


KEY SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES


· Degree educated or equivalent in Engineering, Industrial Design, Product Design, or Design Engineering with at least 3 years’ experience working in a Design / Engineering consultancy or consumer products or consumer electronics industry. 

· Passionate about solving real problems in meaningful and original ways.

· Ability to communicate ideas and concept propositions with the help of hand sketches, CAD layouts, 3D models and working prototypes – with demonstrable experience of 3D prototyping.

· Comprehensive user of 3D CAD; PTC Creo – with a high level of surfacing and assembly proficiency.

· Knowledge of FEA for static and/or dynamic analysis is advantageous.

· Experience of transferring products into manufacture in China and Europe. 

· Project management – ability to own and drive solo projects and engage others on your journey.

· Sensitivity to form development and good visualisation skills to communicate concepts and design intent to wider business audiences. Knowledge of Keyshot for product visualisation is beneficial.

· Robust scoping techniques to develop and audit new technologies. 

· Data-driven approach to continuous design and engineering improvement.

· Self-motivated and robust attention to detail and finish. 

· Team player with good communication skills and proactive approach.

· Desire to mentor junior members within the Design team, acting as a guiding voice for coaching and development.


DESIRABLES


· Mechatronics skillset with ability to develop early proving principle prototypes – integrating electromechanical solutions and prototype PCB design with software and firmware programming.

· Human-centred design experience using design research and ethnographic studies to discover consumer insights.

· Graphic design using 2D CAD packages - in particular, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create product, packaging, and technical user manual artwork.

· Digital prototype design; UX and UI for user experience workflow and testing.

· Experience implementing sustainable design principles, materials, and manufacturing processes.

Reasons to join:

· The business has a successful history with exciting plans for further growth combined with significant investment being applied across the business: facilities, people, products and brand!

· Operating in high growth product categories with the introduction of new technologies

· A new culture of being innovative and proactive – with people empowered and encouraged to contribute and challenge

· Freedom and autonomy, no micro-management here

· Security of a successful, profitable, cash-rich business

· Highly successful new MD & Design & Development Manager who have worked in world class, industry-leading engineering and manufacturing businesses
 

They are based in the South East, on the South West outskirts of London, so naturally prospective candidates should live within a commutable distance.  There is flexibility over start & finish times with some potential for home working (1-2 days per week).  


To apply send your CV to Matthew Lambert who’s supporting me on this assignment via matt@wilsonbrook.com or call him on 07517 470025 for a confidential discussion

image690

Timber Product Manager

An excellent opportunity with a regional market leader

This is an excellent opportunity to grow a key product category for a leading company in this sector. They already have an excellent reputation for their product range in this category, but see significant scope for growth.

The business are long established with a loyal customer base including national house builders, local developers, general contractors, public sector organisations and home improvers - in fact, all users of building materials, however large or small.


They have traded relatively successfully through the Covid-19 crisis. Their branches were closed for a brief period until safe operating procedures were implemented enabling them to offer a click and collect/click and deliver service. They are now fully operational and benefiting from the surge taking place within the building industry – in fact 2020 could end up actually ahead of budget!


The Opportunity


Although already providing a comprehensive range of timber products and sheet materials; they feel there is a big opportunity to increase the breadth and depth, in order to even better service their existing customers whilst also winning new business.


The Individual


They would like recruit someone who can support the existing Product Manager and proactively drive growth for these product groups, whilst also providing a potential succession planning and career development opportunity

Potential candidates should have 


  • Specific product knowledge of timber products and sheet materials. This is essential. This could be from working for a builders merchant, a DIY retailer, a specialist distributor or a manufacturer
  • Experience in a similar role is naturally beneficial, however this is a broad, end-to-end role so we’re open to individuals who might need to develop some of the capabilities
  • Can successfully operate in such an environment without the support structures of a larger corporate and can cope with the pressure of needing to achieve results
  • A proactive, inquisitive approach with an entrepreneurial spirit – always looking for ways to improve the business
  • Naturally strong communication skills – across all levels of the business.
  • Willingness to roll sleeves up and get stuck in
  • To be customer facing and enjoy doing this. Knowledge of the local customer base is an advantage, but not a prerequisite
  • Fit in with and positively develop the culture within the organisation, ensuring respect for all
  • A self-starter and can operate at pace – no procrastination here please!
  • Energetic and creative, resilient and tenacious
  • Work closely with suppliers, stores, sales teams and customers
  • Can deliver the right level of information up and down the structure as required
  • Be commercially and financially aware
  • Living with commutable distance of the Head Office, though there is some flexibility with remote working and travel throughout the Branch network


Reasons to join


  • The business is well-established and has a good reputation
  • Well placed for growth with investment having been made over recent years
  • The business is happy to invest further – both in the stores and their people
  • An opportunity to really drive growth in these product categories and make the business the go-to company for such


There is a competitive salary, bonus and benefits package.
To apply please send your CV to neil@wilsonbrook.com or call 07796 542641 for a confidential discussion 

image691

Group Product Manager - Heavyside Products

An excellent opportunity to grow this category for a well established business

This is an excellent opportunity to grow a key product category for a leading company in this sector. They already have an excellent reputation for their product range in this category, but see significant scope for growth.  The business are long established with a loyal customer base including national house builders, local developers, general contractors, public sector organisations and home improvers - in fact, all users of building materials, however large or small.


They have traded relatively successfully through the Covid-19 crisis. Their branches were closed for a brief period until safe operating procedures were implemented enabling them to offer a click and collect/click and deliver service. They are now fully operational and benefiting from the surge taking place within the building industry – in fact 2020 could end up actually ahead of budget!


The Opportunity

Although already providing a comprehensive range of heavyside products: bricks, blocks, aggregates and landscaping products; they feel there is a big opportunity to increase the breadth and depth, in order to even better service their existing customers whilst also winning new business.


The Individual

They would like recruit someone who can operate at a higher level in an enlarged role and proactively drive growth for these product groups taking some of the workload away from the Director who currently oversees this.

Potential candidates should have 

  • Specific product knowledge of bricks & blocks and other heavyside products. This is essential. This could be from working for a builders merchant, a DIY retailer, a specialist distributor or a manufacturer
  • Experience in a similar role is naturally beneficial, however this is a broad, end-to-end role so we’re open to individuals who might need to develop some of the capabilities
  • Can successfully operate in such an environment without the support structures of a larger corporate and can cope with the pressure of needing to achieve results
  • A proactive, inquisitive approach with an entrepreneurial spirit – always looking for ways to improve the business
  • Naturally strong communication skills – across all levels of the business.
  • Willingness to roll sleeves up and get stuck in
  • To be customer facing and enjoy doing this. Knowledge of the local customer base is an advantage, but not a prerequisite
  • Fit in with and positively develop the culture within the organisation, ensuring respect for all
  • A self-starter and can operate at pace – no procrastination here please!
  • Energetic and creative, resilient and tenacious
  • Work closely with suppliers, stores, sales teams and customers
  • Can deliver the right level of information up and down the structure as required
  • Be commercially and financially aware
  • Living with commutable distance of the Hampshire Head Office, though there is some flexibility with remote working


Reasons to join

  • The business is well-established and has a good reputation
  • Well placed for growth with investment having been made over recent years
  • The business is happy to invest further – both in the stores and their people
  • An opportunity to really drive growth in these product categories and make the business the go-to company for such


 To apply send your CV to matt@wilsonbrook.com or call 07517 470025 for a confidential discussion    

image692
  • For Individuals
  • For Companies
  • Current assignments
  • Services
  • Founder, Team & Network
  • Sectors & Functions
  • Contacting each other
  • Privacy Policy
  • News

Copyright © 2018 Wilson Brook Consulting Limited - All Rights Reserved.