This week we are celebrating the 6th anniversary since our Warehouse Supervisor Tim Hill joined us. Beginning his career as one of our Delivery Drivers in our Matlock based depot, Tim developed his reputation as a hard-working member from his first day as part of the team. Never turning down a job and ensuring that works were approached safely and efficiently, quickly earned Tim a reputation in the company as somebody that we were able to turn to and trust in managing himself when out on the road, a vital attribute in our industry as on-site working can be fatal if approaching in the wrong mindset.
After being with us for two years, Tim took to the building and developing aspect of our units. He began helping in the workshop when not on the road and soon adopted an appreciation for the technical development of our units. This led Tim onto moving from our delivery team and joining our technical support team in the workshop. Being technically minded with a keen eye for perfection, Tim quickly began to excel in his new role, whether it was working on a repair or a new build unit, his high standards made the perfect attribute to the team and saw him receiving a promotion to Workshop Supervisor in 2019.
Since moving to Workshop Supervisor, Tim has played his part in training and supporting the rest of the team and he has even overseen the training of our two most recent apprentices, Cain Gregory and Jacob Spencer. Tim loves inspiring new talent within the company and helping other staff members to enhance their talents by using his guidance and supervision. Thanks to Tim`s hands-on approach and technical thinking, you can see his team’s hard work and determination within all of our large fleet of units to this date, valued highly by customers and colleagues alike.
Being part of such a bespoke industry means that it is our staff that enable us to move forward and enhance ourselves. With the determination and unique attributes that every member of the team bring to the table, we are proud to be able to say that every member of our team have been given the opportunity to find themselves within the company, something desired in most workplaces but rarely conducted.
This week marks the 30th Birthday of our very own Sean Brown! As we are known for celebrating our staff and looking for every opportunity to say thank you, we thought there would be no better time to shine a light on our Marketing Manager who joined #teamMVIS back in 2019.
When Sean began his career at MVIS, he was tasked to bring marketing in-house. With the company growing rapidly and developing from within, Sean soon made the role his own by bringing new initiative ideas to the table from his past 6 years of knowledge in the marketing industry. Since Sean started we have seen continuous growth from within the team, which wouldn’t of been possible without the hard working determination of Sean and the rest of our amazing marketing team.
Sean has not only been responsible for his own duties, but he has also played a massive part in the training and development of the other two members of the marketing team. Sean’s marketing assistant Tillie Woolliscroft said “ Sean`s determination and knowledge in what he does has made me love my job. Moving from operations to marketing in 2019 made me nervous, moving into a department that I knew nothing about, but Sean teaches me something new every single day. He pushes me to develop skills that last year I wouldn’t of known I had such as creating documents and blog posts and I couldn’t wish for a better mentor”.
Sean`s love and passion for his job is something that inspires those around him, his energetic personality and quick thinking attributes are perfect in our bespoke industry and we have been able to take our marketing presence higher than it has ever been. We want to say a massive thankyou to Sean for everything he does within MVIS as it is every one of us that make the perfect team.
This week we are celebrating our very own George Sheldon’s 6 year anniversary. Joining our Work Family here at Bartco UK/MVIS in 2015 as an Apprentice in Electrical Engineering, it was not long before George`s incredible work ethic and fast learning attributes came to light.
Helping prepare and build 145 units for one of our largest schemes recorded, George got stuck into his role from day one and proved himself to be an integral member of the team who, to this day, has proved himself time and time again.
Joining us on his 18th Birthday, George became one of the Workshop Team working towards his first-year Apprenticeship and has since gone on to achieve his Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma and has now worked his way up to workshop technician.
George was nominated as Learning Unlimited`s Advanced Apprentice of the Year in 2018 and got to the final stage of the awards which is something that here at Bartco UK/MVIS we are incredibly proud of. Setting George on in 2015, Anne Ashman, our Commercial and Operations Director says “It has been a pleasure to be able to watch George grow in confidence and character over the past 6 years, he really is an asset to our team and is a joy to work with.”
George`s main roles at Bartco UK/MVIS are producing and refurbishing units, as well as preparing them to be delivered to our
customers and more recently assisting the delivery team in deploying the units for Covid’s quick response needed. George`s knowledge and experience has advanced over his years with us, learning how our improved or new products work and operate has made him one of our most experienced members of staff and is often the one seen advising our younger staff including Jacob, our newest warehouse apprentice.
George has not only grown in-house but has had the chance to develop his career skills by undertaking additional training courses and achieving further qualifications such as his; Towing licence, Fork Truck licence, CSCS Highways England Passport, and his MEWP licence.
Tim Hill, our Warehouse Supervisor added “George is a remarkable young lad with so much to offer, he is always on the ball and a breath of fresh air here in the warehouse with his organisation and time management which is key in such a fast-moving industry.”
George is an asset to our team here at Bartco UK/MVIS, and we couldn’t be prouder of the man he has become. We would like to say a massive thank you not only to George but to all involved in training, developing, and pushing George to persevere. As we always say, we’re not just a team, we’re a family here at Bartco UK/MVIS.
Never forgetting the importance of any of our team members, MVIS and Bartco UK do not shy away from an excuse to celebrate our wonderful team – and International Women’s Day 2021 offers us such an excuse. It’s been a very strange year since the last International Women’s Day, during which our team have achieved so much. To celebrate, we will be shining a spotlight on our team’s achievements by looking at the amazing and professional example that the women who work here set for women everywhere.
Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director of both MVIS and Bartco UK is the force that keeps things running smoothly. Anne serves a central role in helping to build both companies from very early days and has achieved a great deal in the almost 10 years she has dedicated to the group. Anne prioritises safety and customer service above all else, with a firm belief that training and looking after her staff will get the most out of them. As a result, MVIS and Bartco UK boast one of the most well-trained workforces in the industry and the team largely has Anne to thank for the opportunity, support and encouragement to be in this position. Whilst working full time, Anne also completed a business degree in 2019, demonstrating incredible commitment and hard work. Steering the company through COVID-19, Anne set out a number of safety measures, policies and employee well-being initiatives that helped to safeguard the team during such an unusual time.
Bartco UK’s Purchasing and Stock Control Supervisor, Rebecca Prince, has risen through the ranks at Bartco UK, starting as an apprentice with the group back in 2015, and in a short space of time she has risen to not only supervising her own department, but to also being a mentor and supervisor of staff herself, helping others through their apprenticeships. Along with Anne, Bec is a Mental Health First Aider for both MVIS and Bartco UK, being a friendly and welcoming face to anyone who is struggling with their mental health at the group. Bec has been a key point of call for members of staff required to work from the HQ during COVID-19.
Mizzy Watson’s role with MVIS makes her the ‘face of the company’ to many clients and customers, working as an Operations and Customer Service team member and she remains professional yet friendly at all times. Reliable and excellent at her job, Mizzy is a key member of the team and fully buys into the MVIS way. During COVID, Mizzy has managed to keep up the quality of her job whilst managing increased childcare, no easy feat for any mother but MVIS commends Mizzy especially for keeping on top of this as well as her job.
Having joined MVIS at only 16 years old in 2016, Tillie Woolliscroft started her time here in Operations and Customer Service, working well with our team in the field and customers alike. Being promoted to Marketing Assistant in 2019, Tillie is fully underway with her training in marketing skills. Since moving roles, Tillie has been trained on important aspects of marketing and editing and has found herself excelling in some vital marketing aspects such as graphic design and image editing. During her time here, Tillie has gone on to not only complete her apprenticeship, but to also win Learning Unlimited Intermediate Apprentice of the Year Award in 2018.
Pip Wood works alongside Bec for Bartco UK as Purchasing and Stock Control Apprentice, whilst studying towards her Business Administration qualification. Finishing her ITOPS in March 2021, she will be starting a new college course soon. Joining the company in 2019, Pip has taken to her role with vigour and enthusiasm we see her confidence and capability grow each day. Since a workspace restructure, the main office has got to see much more of Pip in recent months and the working environment is much better off for it; so much so that she received multiple nominations for her award of Employee of the Month in February 2020.
Last but certainly not least, Juliette Wright is our newest team member, joining us in early January 2021. Juliette has joined the company as our Sales & Customer Relations Administrator at perhaps one of the most unusual times, hot on the heels of COVID-19. Having fitted in tremendously, Juliette serves an important role at MVIS, being a fundamental point of support for the sales department and has very quickly become ‘part of the team’, with a fantastic approach to work and a real team player attitude. This is made all the more impressive since Juliette has hit the ground running so well with her work, she is gaining a quick understanding of what the business is about without having even met some of the team yet due to the work from home restrictions in place.
It’s safe to say that both MVIS and Bartco UK have every reason to celebrate the women that make a fundamental part of our team.
As COVID continues to bring changes to every aspect of our lives, we are finding more ways of dealing with it, individually, as a society and as an economy. With this comes a huge amount of responsibility to employers and employees alike to make sure they are conducting business and working in a responsible and safe way.
MVIS and Bartco UK have a great track record when it comes to training, especially in the area of Health & Safety, in which we actually hold an ISO accreditation, (45001:2018), along with accreditations in quality (9001:2015) and environmental management (14001:2015).
The group management team places training high on the agenda for the whole team, making sure that everyone understands the importance of Health and Safety for the best interests of themselves and the wider public due to the nature of the work we do, but this importance has never been more apparent then it is now.
One of the main aspects that raises concern is maintaining a safe and healthy workforce in these times, which encompasses mental health / well-being, COVID infection control and site safety. As a result, these aspects are being tackled internally to allow us to maintain the safety of our team, so that we can continue to bring safety solutions for the benefit of the general public.
In a previous post, we explore the implementation of Peninsula’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). However, we haven’t stopped there – in recent weeks, we have mandated our whole team to sit the COVID-19 Site Safety Plus course accredited by CITB, a course that has an expiration of 5 years from completion that attests to the quality of information and learning received for participants.
The course itself was in-depth and thorough, bringing with it a new and deeper level of appreciation for COVID for our whole team, not just those who are required to work on site but even for those working from home. The more everyone understands the severity of keeping workplaces and sites controlled and as close to COVID safe as possible, the better for our team as individuals, for the group as a whole and for wider society in general.
Here at MVIS, alongside sister company Bartco UK, we take every opportunity to be able to celebrate our incredibly talented workforce. National Apprentice Week 2021 brings us the chance to boast about our younger team members.
Our retention of apprentices is impeccable, and we are lucky enough to say that we have continuously had at least one apprentice in our team since 2013! Dom Bridge, our first apprentice, who joined at 18 years old, has been developing his skills constantly during his employment with MVIS, qualifying last year as an Operations Manager.
From training new staff to ensuring that our customers’ needs are met, Dom is one of the longest serving staff members here at MVIS. After being trained up by our Commercial and Operations Director, Anne Ashman over the last 8 years, Dom has been able to pass on his knowledge to our other apprentices, all of which have remained at MVIS/Bartco UK after passing their qualifications.
After speaking with Dom about the importance of apprenticeships he commented, “I think apprentices are very important to us, they bring fresh new ideas to the table and an eagerness to learn. It is great that MVIS/Bartco buys into the apprenticeship program, giving young people an opportunity to develop an amazing career.”
It is thanks to our innovative ideas and eagerness to improve that allow us to maintain the high quality and award-winning customer service that we proudly shout about. This would not be possible without the outstanding team of apprentices that have joined us over the years.
Back in 2015 Bartco UK saw Rebecca Prince join the team, quickly finding her calling in Stock and Purchasing. Becca who is now Bartco UK’s purchasing and stock supervisor, ensures that everything is running smoothly within the stock control side of the business. Not only this, but Rebecca has an Apprentice of her own to pass skills on to. Pip Wood began at Bartco UK in 2018 alongside Bec as we saw the company begin to grow. Pip has since completed her apprenticeship and has moved onto other courses such as her ITOPS which she is currently undertaking and has just signed up for her NVQ level 3 in customer service. All our staff not only improve their knowledge on company-based skills, but also expand their portfolio and better themselves as employees.
In 2016 Tillie Woolliscroft joined the MVIS team as an Operations Apprentice. Tillie began her journey at MVIS, aged 16, under the wing of Dom and made important relationships with customers and colleagues which allowed her to build confidence in her role. Tillie then began helping with social media which ultimately lead to moving Marketing in-house and creating our very own Marketing team, where Tillie was promoted to Marketing Assistant.
Since moving roles, working with Marketing Manager Sean Brown, Tillie has been trained on important aspects of marketing and editing and has found herself excelling in some vital marketing aspects such as graphic design and image editing.
Tillie spoke of her time at MVIS “Joining MVIS after leaving school was the best decision I could have made for my future; I have completed two college courses and have now moved into Marketing. Marketing never even crossed my mind, but Anne spotted potential in my artistic skills, which led to my new job role and I couldn’t be happier.”
For the company’s being part of the apprenticeship scheme has made it clear that in order to strive for improvement as a company, Apprentices are the way forward. Bringing new ideas to the table and growing into their roll, we are proud of every single apprentice that we have welcomed through the door.
Anne Ashman, Commercial & Operations Director commented “As a young person myself who started work as an apprentice, albeit it in a very different industry, it has always made me realise the skills you pick up working in a workplace rather than attending college or university are priceless. These skills are life skills and build your confidence, also making you part of a team, teaching you the way to conduct yourself within a workplace environment. I am a strong believer in education and am very proud to have been able to give so many young people the opportunity to not only get on the job ladder but be able to offer them a high level of qualifications so that they have a bright future. I enjoy nothing more than spending time with our apprentices passing on my own skills and helping them learn “the tricks of the trade”.
Over the years MVIS/Bartco have been able to build incredible teams, a lot of this is down to the 8 staff who began as Apprentices. We would like to thank not only these members of staff but each and every one of our incredibly talented work force who have been on hand to pass on their knowledge. Our Culture here at MVIS/Bartco UK is that we are only as good as each member of our team.
2020 was a difficult year for everyone. With significant changes to the way we live and work, there are several ways that this has affected businesses and individuals.
MVIS and Bartco UK have always prioritised the mental health of their team. However, during the pandemic, we have gone above and beyond in helping our team make it through such an unusual year by offering a support in a variety of ways.
Earlier in 2020 we covered how MVIS and Bartco UK’s Commercial & Operations Director, Anne Ashman, ensured that staff were supplied with Work from Home Care Packages, along with the wide range of policies and procedures she has put in place this year to help keep our staff safe and to help our organisation better adjust to the new working conditions.
However, as this situation continues, our measures for support must adapt to the long-term conditions we find ourselves in. At this point, we understand that short term measures are not enough, and we must look at ways we can support our team over the long term.
One of the long terms aspects to have suffered especially as a result of working from home is the ability for our team to chat as a group freely about concerns or troubles they may be having whilst on breaks or in an office conversation.
This level of conversation plays a vital part in our employee’s mental and social wellbeing and whilst we do have daily briefings with the whole team, the briefings have a large work focus, which, is obvious to note, not the most appropriate environment to be discussing personal matters.
Even our departmental conversations, which are usually a smaller audience and potentially a chance to discuss worries can be limiting as well, with staff only receiving one or two perspectives on a problem, whereas in the office they would have the benefit of our whole team’s life experience to help them with their issue.
Leaving such an eventful and traumatic year behind us, it is more important than ever that our team feel supported. As a result, we have identified this potential for long term social isolation amongst our staff and have put in place a solid solution to help combat this.
By employing Peninsula’s services, we have a well-rounded approach to our team’s wellbeing. However, an additional service we have sought out at the end of 2020 is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Peninsula’s EAP services help our team overcome their toughest life challenges and deliver their best every day. It includes 24/7 telephone advice, face-to-face counselling and a suite of online and mobile tools to help staff stay happy and healthy.
According to the Peninsula website, an EAP can “reduce mental health related absence levels by as much as 45% and improve productivity by as much as 8%.” But more importantly, “it helps protect your staff.”
Already we have had reports of our team finding this helpful.
One member of staff commented, “Having just bought and moved to my first home a few weeks ago, I have a lot of things on my mind. The EAP has been a big support, especially recently through a highly stressful period. They have given me sound, professional legal advice that has helped me make important decisions in a way that best suits me and my future, as I take this very big first step towards my independence.”
She continues, “Over the years, my colleagues at MVIS and Bartco UK have been one of my key points of support in life. However, this year, it has been harder to discuss personal matters, as the distance between us limits such conversation that would have been straightforward if we weren’t working form home. Video calling with a non-work problem is very different to a casual conversation in the office, and whilst the EAP is no replacement for the camaraderie we built in the office, it ensures that we are getting the very best advice at all times, which may even make it better in some ways!”
At the start of November 2020, England entered into its 2nd national lockdown this year in response to COVID-19. Presenting issues for workplaces all over the country, one of the big issues for employers is keeping morale up at a very difficult time for everyone.
MVIS and Bartco UK continue to prioritise our team’s mental health through the implementation of a number of initiatives that we have continued to adhere to throughout the pandemic, meaning that when the 2nd lockdown was called, we were ready with our existing initiatives and lockdown procedures.
Since ‘working from home’ was mandated earlier in the year, the office staff at MVIS and Bartco UK have all had a daily morning briefing over Teams, discussing the day’s goals and allowing us to remain responsive to the situation as it changes – an important strategy under the current circumstances where the news is changing rapidly.
One of the lockdown procedures we have in place is our employee ‘COVID-19 care packages’, delivered right to staff member’s doors. Packages contain soap, tea bags, hand sanitizer, tissues and even a few goodies in there to help keep spirits up.
With Christmas right around the corner we are also well under way planning a virtual Christmas party for us that promises to be a fantastic festive break from all the doom and gloom that 2020 has brought.
We continue to prioritise our staff’s well-being throughout this time and will be monitoring things closely over the next lockdown with continual feedback and improvement regarding our policies.
One of the aspects we are currently examining is our approach to working times, in the hope that we can allow members of the team to enjoy more time outside during the day in winter, promoting the natural production of Vitamin D, which is widely reported to serve as a vital ingredient in our body’s response to the virus.
We will remain flexible in our approach to work in general throughout this, staying in touch and responsive to the situation so we don’t let our team down at this most critical time.
Despite the chaos of this year with COVID-19 dominating news and business news, we have a lot to celebrate this year, with a number of significant changes to our workforce that demonstrates anything other than slowing down, unlike the rest of the economy.
Between new employees starting with us and new promotions, 2020 has presented major changes to our organisation. However, it’s not just the changes that we can celebrate – we can also celebrate aspects of continuity, with staff retention being a high priority for us in our business model.
Last week, we celebrated a huge milestone for the company – Anne Ashman, MVIS and Bartco UK’s Commercial and Operations Director has been with the company for 9 years!
Anne joined the organisation back in 2011 and has been with us through all the changes we have seen happen over the years, from the company name change from Colour Mobile VMS to MVIS and incorporation of Bartco UK and Bartco AU into the group, right through to leading the team through the global coronavirus pandemic.
Starting at the group as Office Manager, Anne has progressed first to Office and Finance Manager, then to General Manager, and now, in 2020, she has been promoted to UK Group Commercial and Operations Director.
On top of this, Anne has also been personally nominated and submitted as a finalist for 2 awards this year, both relating to her leadership and management over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anne’s quick thinking and problem-solving skills equips her with the ability to generate new ideas to help solve problems. Along with her organisation skills, Anne is adept in applying the best solution for any problem that utilises every aspect of the MVIS and Bartco UK machine to it’s maximum potential.
Serving as a major implementer for both MVIS and Bartco UK’s success from the start, Anne has been leading her teams for the last 8 years, writing and implementing all the policies and processes that the UK work to and ensuring that all customers get the best service possible.
Anne was also the driving force behind the UK group achieving certification for an integrated ISO management system whilst recruiting and training the majority of staff, who are widely considered to be amongst the best trained in the industry.
Never wanting to stagnate, Anne places a huge emphasis on training and development, not just of her team but also of herself. Having gained her Open University Business Management Degree last year, her HR qualification in 2018, ITOPS in 2019, even completing a Directors Development program during the lockdown, to name but a few, Anne brings her skills and training to an industrial scale, ensuring all staff can benefit from her training and their own training so our organisation is always moving forward and is best equipped to grow in an ever changing market place.
Pat Musgrave, Managing Director of MVIS and Bartco UK, comments “We are very pleased to be celebrating Anne’s employment of 9 years with us. Over this time, I have come to learn that her tenacity is only overshadowed by her record of success. Her years of service have been essential for the group’s growth. We thank Anne for her service and everyone at MVIS and Bartco UK are looking forward to many more years of growth under Anne’s direction.”
With all the doom and gloom in the world at the moment, it’s a pleasure – and indeed a privilege – to be able to focus on whatever positive news we can. In this sense, it seems only fitting that we celebrate an important new appointment to the MVIS team, with Ed Faulkner joining us as Sales Manager, working under our Sales Director, Graeme Lee.
Ed’s appointment is especially exciting for us, as not only does it expand our growing team, but it also demonstrates a marked milestone of expansion for us. Ed’s role will comprise of breaching new markets with our products, which is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic as we begin to see more applications for our technology to help deal with the spread of the virus.
Ed’s role will also focus on bringing new trade into the business in familiar areas to us, such as in traffic management, with local authorities and the events sectors. With a background in technical sales, mainly construction and the hire industry, Ed is keen to apply this knowledge and secure new business for the company. Ed very much fits in with the MVIS ethos – with a focus on training and added value, he brings a focus on personal development that ensures he will grow as the company does.
Ed brings with him years of business development and technical sales management experience, making him the ideal candidate for the job set out before him. With a proven track record in sales, Ed was selected to take on this role against a plethora of highly skilled and highly appropriate candidates. After an incredibly difficult recruitment process, Ed was chosen as the best applicant for the role with all our criteria considered.
Out of work, Ed is a passionate hockey player, playing for the same club since he was only 10 years old. Now the captain of the masters team, they reached the UK masters final at the Olympic hockey park in 2019 and came in close second. Ed also plays for the Welsh masters team as well.
Anne Ashman, Commercial and Operations Director comments, ‘The level of applicants for this role made this an incredibly difficult recruitment process that we were very lucky to take part in. Even more lucky for us, Ed was a candidate that stood above the others in the criteria we were looking for.’
Anne adds, ‘We are very pleased to welcome Ed to the team. Our recruitment process necessitates a focus not only on skills, but also attitude and culture. We believe that Ed will fit in with the MVIS and Bartco UK way of thinking. We look forward to working with him and seeing what we can all achieve together.’
As a small team, we always find new employees to be a very welcome addition to our group. Finding the right person for the job is a crucial task not just in terms of skill level but also their approach to work, making talent ID an often long and difficult task for us.
The effort is worth it however, with MVIS building a fantastic team over the years as the company has matured, resulting in a workforce that has grown with the company in more ways than just in numbers.
MVIS are proud to welcome Chris Steel to the team as Accounts Officer, coming to us in July 2020, right in the heart of the COVID-19 lockdown. Despite starting MVIS under most unusual circumstance, Chris hit the ground running, bringing with him 5 years of accounting experience along with a driven and independent attitude.
It’s this attitude that MVIS believes brings the true ‘X-factor’ in our team. Years of experience and skills is only as useful as how driven the employee is. With this in mind, we take extra care in our recruitment process to ensure that prospective new staff members have that ‘X-factor’, irrespective of their skill set. This ensures that no one just ‘walks’ into our company based on experience alone, which would be an easier but riskier approach to recruitment – one that many businesses opt for in the name of simplicity.
Whilst Chris is joining us at an unusual time in the world, it is quite an exciting time for the company. Chris joins us at a time of marked expansion – a time that we are looking to new horizons to maintain the incredible growth we have seen to date. As Accounts Officer, Chris oversees the accounts operations of the company, managing the day to day posting of the accounts, updating purchase and sales invoices, processing and submitting VAT returns and managing all banking operations.
Anne Ashman, Commercial and Operations Director at MVIS comments “We take recruitment very seriously and don’t let just anyone into our business. After a rather unconventional recruitment process due to COVID-19, Chris stepped up to the plate. He performed exceptionally in the interview and was the best applicant for this role. We are proud to welcome Chris to the team and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve with the great team we are growing here at MVIS.”
During these uncertain times, we can easily get trapped with all the bad news in the world. Perhaps now more than ever, we need to focus on the good news, and look to celebrate successes and wins wherever possible. With this in mind, it brings MVIS Ltd and Bartco UK Group MD, Pat Musgrave much pride to announce some exciting staff promotions this year. He comments, “a lot of businesses currently are going through a period of uncertainty, but MVIS have continued to sail the waters at a steady pace, ensuring all staff stayed employed and were not furloughed. This was led by the MVIS and Bartco UK management team”.
Despite the immense challenges faced this year, MVIS has managed to keep its hire fleet utilisation at a steady rate. Bartco UK has not only won sales in this climate, but has also served as a case study on adaptability and safety, keeping all staff working with new safety measures in place and nurturing mental wellbeing. With this amazing dedication overseen and managed by the MVIS and Bartco UK management team, Pat has promoted key members of the team as a thank you for their long-term service and loyalty to the company.
Anne Ashman
Graeme Lee
Dom Bridge
Anne Ashman, who has been with the companies since their start has been promoted from UK Group General Manager to UK Group Commercial and Operations Director.
Anne has been part of the ‘global group companies’ executive team since 2015, working closely with the directors and her colleagues in Australia on a weekly and monthly basis. She has worked with Pat since the incorporation of MVIS in 2012 and then Bartco UK in 2013, previously joining Colour Mobile VMS originally in 2011 as office manager, moving over to MVIS, as office and finance manager, when it was formed for the Olympic project in 2012.
Her quick thinking makes her a great problem solver and helps her to come up with new ideas that along with her organisation skills makes sure the business strategies are implemented all the way through both the UK companies and the group. She has been a major implementor of both MVIS and Bartco UK’s success from the very start, leading her qualified teams for the last 8 years and especially stepping up to the challenge of the last 6 months during the pandemic. During her time with the company she has written and implemented all the policies and processes that the UK work to, ensuring the best of service for our customers, implemented and gained certification for an integrated ISO management system and recruited and trained the majority of the staff, which MVIS and Bartco UK consider to be the best trained in the portable ITS industry at present.
She has also herself took on further training, gaining her Open University Business Management Degree last year, her HR qualification in 2018, ITOPS in 2019, even completing a Directors Development program during the lockdown, to name but a few, she is keen on making sure not only does she have the necessary skills and knowledge to keep making the UK companies move forward, but that her whole team do to, to ensure the UK companies growth in an ever changing market place.
Anne will continue to oversee both UK companies and lead the teams, whilst continue working with the executive team to work on global business strategies and ideas for the whole group.
Graeme Lee who has been with the company since 2012 as Sales Manager has been promoted to Sales Director.
Graeme started with the company when it was in its very early days and only had a minimal customer database after the 2012 Olympics. Since then he has worked tirelessly with Pat and Anne ensuring the company growth and has been a major player in getting the company to where it is now as the UK market leader in the hire of ITS. During his time with the company, he has attended trade shows and built relationships through customer visits, single handedly building a large customer database and made traction with all the major tier 1 contracts, which clearly shows in our Major Projects Time Line.
Graeme is not only well liked and trusted within the company, but also within the industry. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge of over 15+ years of working within the rental and sales highways and TM industry. With his new promotion, Graeme will work closer with Anne to build the reputation of the companies and strategies to keep growing both MVIS and Bartco UK alike. He will also be working closely with our marketing team to make sure the strategies align with the market’s needs. Part of his new role will be to also work with the new sales manager we are bringing on board to ensure they have the knowledge of the industry and also work with them to bring in new business in new markets.
The last promotion and by far not the least is Dominic Bridge, who has been promoted to the company’s Operations Manager.
Dom started with MVIS back in 2013, almost a year to the date after Graeme. He started as an admin apprentice and over the 7 years has completed several courses to recently earn his CMI Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership.
Dom has been the voice and organiser behind most of the delivery phone calls for the last 7 years, been involved in all the planning for the delivery to events, major projects, highspeed works and TM requirements. During his time with the company he has gained a wealth of knowledge and is the main trainer for other staff on the companies’ IT systems.
He’s regularly the fall back for all staff with any IT issues and was the main person for implementing the way the company worked on the IT systems during the lockdown back in March when all the office staff and managers moved to home working.
Dom’s reliability, eye to detail, organization skills and non-fazed attitude really does make him exceptional in the role of Operations Manager, nothing is too much trouble for him, and he will always find a solution for our customers enquires. His peers all speak highly of him and he really is Anne’s right-hand person, working with her on the ISO systems since they were achieved and making sure all staff work to the processes in place.
Dom has also recently qualified as a fleet manager, his new promotion will see him looking after all the company vehicles and give him the opportunity to work closer with his team in deliveries on a more strategic basis, looking at cost savings and also reducing our environmental impact in this area.
Pat comments, “when you identify talent within the workplace, you do everything you can to encourage the people to grow and stay. Business really is about relationships, but that starts with the people we employ. Get the right people and they will grow your business for you! Here at MVIS and Bartco UK we really have a great team. Part of keeping that team is to give them new challenges and let them flourish, but equally give them the recognition they deserve.”
He adds, “All three people here have been with the companies a long time, Anne 9 years, Graeme 8 and Dom 7, so as a company we want to keep this wealth of knowledge and thank them for their dedication to date”.
This week we are celebrating the 6th anniversary since our Warehouse Supervisor Tim Hill joined us. Beginning his career as one of our Delivery Drivers in our Matlock based depot, Tim developed his reputation as a hard-working member from his first day as part of the team. Never turning down a job and ensuring that works were approached safely and efficiently, quickly earned Tim a reputation in the company as somebody that we were able to turn to and trust in managing himself when out on the road, a vital attribute in our industry as on-site working can be fatal if approaching in the wrong mindset.
This week we are celebrating our very own George Sheldon’s 6 year anniversary. Joining our Work Family here at Bartco UK/MVIS in 2015 as an Apprentice in Electrical Engineering, it was not long before George`s incredible work ethic and fast learning attributes came to light.
are incredibly proud of. Setting George on in 2015, Anne Ashman, our Commercial and Operations Director says “It has been a pleasure to be able to watch George grow in confidence and character over the past 6 years, he really is an asset to our team and is a joy to work with.”
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In 2016 Tillie Woolliscroft joined the MVIS team as an Operations Apprentice. Tillie began her journey at MVIS, aged 16, under the wing of Dom and made important relationships with customers and colleagues which allowed her to build confidence in her role. Tillie then began helping with social media which ultimately lead to moving Marketing in-house and creating our very own Marketing team, where Tillie was promoted to Marketing Assistant.
