If office manager Gloria Feary is the glue that holds Corrotherm International together, sales assistant Will Best is the oil that makes our sales process run smoothly.
Profile:
Name: Will Best
Position: Sales Assistant
Time at Corrotherm: Just over 2 years
Interests and hobbies: Playing and listening to music; sleeping
Appropriately enough, in GCSE results week, Will is our very own 'poster boy' for apprenticeships. After leaving school, Will had found college wasn't for him and was working long and exhausting hours in a local pub kitchen. He was looking for a way to kick start his career, although he wasn't sure where that might take him.
Happily for Corrotherm, he talked to our local college, Totton College, about its apprenticeship programmes. As a result, we met with him, and the rest, as they say, is history. Corrotherm was actually only the second interview Will attended through the college, but we saw when we met him the skills he could bring to Corrotherm, so we snapped him up! He's now been with us for over two years.
In his position as sales assistant, Will plays a key role in making sure Corrotherm’s quality, environmental and health and safety management systems run smoothly, which in turn helps us to maintain our ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications. His invaluable input on the systems side of things makes sure that all orders are progressed through our management system smoothly, so that anyone can find exactly the information they need, at any stage of the order. And it's an approach that pays dividends: our recent ISO re-certification shows that our system is robust, efficient and effective, and allows us to deliver the service levels our customers demand.
In the two years since Will joined us, he's gained an NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration, and has recently completed a further NVQ Level 2 in Customer Service. A regular monthly visit from his mentor at the College has ensured that things are staying on track, both for him and for Corrotherm. He's expecting the results from his Customer Service NVQ any day now, but as anyone who's spoken to him on the phone will know, he excels in this field. We think he should be quietly confident.
In his spare time, although not currently in a band, Will is passionate about music. In the past, he's played bass guitar in bands that he describes as playing 'pop punk and melodic hardcore' - no, we weren't quite sure what that sounds like, either, but we're sure that Will was great in it, just like he is in his work life.
He's an avid record collector and owns over 700 pieces of vinyl, mostly punk and hardcore. He's also hoping to get back into music promoting - in the past he got involved in putting on gigs in the local area for a lot of visiting European bands, mostly from Italy, and with Southampton's live music scene flourishing, avenues are opening up once again. Watch this space...
According to Will, the best thing about working for Corrotherm, apart from completing his two NVQ qualifications, is working with the great team of people here. It's true, we do have great people here: they join us and they stay, which we think shows we're doing something right.
Or maybe it's the cake. We do have lots of cake, says Will. "On your birthday, you have to ply the whole office with goodies. One of the things I feel I've achieved during my time here is perfecting my banana bread recipe." No doubt that goes down a treat with the cup of Earl Grey tea Will's been known to enjoy, although mostly he sticks to good old H2O - very healthy!
What's next for Will? Well, after two years of working hard for his qualifications, he's planning to take a well-earned break from his studies for now. However, when he's ready to tackle a new challenge in his continuing professional development, Corrotherm will be there to support him.
If you would like to talk to a member of the Corrotherm team, you can contact us here, or telephone our UK head office on: +44 (0)23 8074 8100.
