A day in the life of….our technical manager

Posted on 10th January 2020 | Posted in About Canopies UK

A day in the life of our technical manager

New year, new appointment. Trevor Watkins is our technical manager; he’s also one of the newest members of our team.

Strictly speaking, Trevor joined us at the end of last year – and while he may have spent the end of 2019 learning all there is to know about the Canopies UK family, he’s now ready to fully launch himself into his new role.

There’s no time like the present to find out more about our newest recruit and what his work will involve going forward:

Q. How technical is your role?

A. It’s really important I’m always up to speed on every single aspect of Canopies UK’s products. Because I’m relatively new, my main focus right now is making sure I fully understand everything there is to know about the entire product range. This involves learning about and looking at the technical side of how all of our systems work and how we can develop and improve the information we share with our customers going forward to provide them with an even better service.

Q. We know you’re still settling in, but what does a typical day involve for you?

A. It involves looking at and adding to our technical resources, highlighting any information gaps on our systems and improving the documents we have for our customers. At present, I have spent a bit of time on site seeing our canopies being installed, which is the best way to learn about them. We’ve been installing one of our Cantabria retractable roof canopies at a brand new apartment/restaurant development next to the Lowry Hotel in Manchester – I’ve been spending a lot of my time down there, watching and observing whilst adding an extra pair of hands where required!

Q. How many people do you have in your team/who do you work with?

A. There are 15 of us in the main office; all with different types of roles. However, I mainly work alongside our four external area sales managers on current or potential projects. It’s our job to make sure we’ve captured all of the information that’s required and supplied customers with any technical details they may need.

Q. How does your work contribute to Canopies UK’s industry-leading standards?

A. I’m responsible for monitoring our more complex sales orders and making sure we capture all of the details we need to guarantee every project runs smoothly, from order to installation. We’re installing a lot more of our Cantabrias for large commercial projects and the national contractors we’re working with require a lot more technical information in relation to canopy profiles and how they will work with new and existing site developments.

Q. What software/systems do you use?

A. We use our own in-house software and external sales systems, which have been tailored to our specific requirements and enable us to work efficiently and deliver the exceptional levels of service we’re renowned for.

Q. What’s the most technically-challenging issue you’ve resolved so far?

A. Producing an operations and maintenance manual and a health and safety data plan for a national construction company, who were installing one of our Cantabria canopies. The company hadn’t produced these documents before, so I had to compile them to make sure the installation wasn’t stopped or put on hold, which would have held up the project and the potential start dates. It was particularly challenging for me because if the document wasn’t correct, it would have been thrown out by the contractor for revision and delayed the project until it was right.

Q. How much interaction do you have with Canopies UK’s customers?

A. Lots! I’m regularly in touch with our customers and suppliers to make sure our projects are kept moving and all technical queries are answered.

Q. What do you enjoy the most about being the technical manager at Canopies UK?

A. There are two things – the people I work with and the range of interesting projects I get to work on. (For more of an insight into the different types of installations carried out by Canopies UK, take a look at these case studies).

Got any questions or want to discuss your outdoor canopy requirements with us? Contact us on info@canopiesuk.co.uk or 01254 777 002. In the meantime, for more details about the Canopies UK family and why we’re leading UK canopy manufacturers, check out, ‘The Canopies UK journey: Our journey so far…’