My working life started at the Wellcome Foundation, based in Crewe, where I joined as a qualified engineer. The Division I was originally involved with manufactured Drying and Filtration equipment for the pharmaceutical industry.From this came a career change into Material Handling and then into Divisional Management leading to a role in the Automotive sector working for Metzeller, a German company that was part of the Pirelli Group. Metzeller manufactured a range of car sealing systems and hydraulic engine mounting systems for light vehicles. I set up a Design and Supply operation for them in the UK to supply the UK divisions of Ford, GM, Nissan and Jaguar. Following the acquisition of the UK office, Metzeller moved me to Germany and the USA, where I spent approx 12 months in each country which gave me an understanding of the different cultures.At this time, 1995, I was asked to join the Fairchild Corporation to become Managing Director of their UK Gas Spring Company in Leicester – Camloc Gas Springs. In 1999, the company was acquired by Arvin / Meritor Inc, an American Corporation with a turnover of $4.2 billion. Meritor manufactured a range of specialised products such as axles for trucks. The company was subsequently bought by an American funding organisation in Detroit in 2011 and re-named Camloc Motion Control Ltd.Camloc design and manufacture a range of gas springs, dampers and specialist military blast mitigation dampers. The company supply customers worldwide across a variety of industry sectors including construction, military, medical, mobility & disability, rail and general industrial.