What’s the most exciting thing about your job?
Experiencing the delight of customers who have just had a MASH-B System installed.
Who inspired you most in your career?
My eldest brother David, the founder and Managing Director of MASH-B. He introduced me to forklift trucks 40 years ago, when he was working for Coventry Climax. He is ethical and has always been straight with people, and his conscience does not keep him awake at night. We both like to think we know it all, and whatever bright ideas we get, the other thought of it first.
Who or what makes you laugh?
Max Boyce, he also makes me smile.
What time do you get to work, and long do you work for every day?
I start at 8.30 am. Until I am too tired to work any longer: about 8.35am (only joking!)
If you were an item in a warehouse, what would you be?
A MASH-B Battery Handling System, saving time, space, money and making the battery room a lot safer, and keeping the boss happy.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do different?
Try harder, earlier and longer. Not start smoking. Stay fit.
What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?
Splitting my trousers whilst working on the Wessex Fork Lift Stand at the Materials Handling Show at Earls Court, about 38 years ago.
Do you have any hidden talents?
Yes, but no-one seems able to find them.
Who would be your favourite party guest?
Davey Arthur and the Fureys, we would sing all night long.
What is the greatest luxury in your life?
After my wife and family, opportunity.
What do you fear most?
Winning the lottery and then losing the ticket. Losing the freedom to be an individual and speaking one’s mind. Unfortunately the world seems to be heading that way.
If you won the Lottery, what would you do?
Providing I could find the ticket, you mean? Take the day off, give my family whatever they need or want, and buy a holiday home in France or Spain.
What was your favourite hospitality jolly?
Rugby at the Cardiff Arms Park.
What’s your dream holiday destination?
Surfing off Hawaii.
What are your three favourite movies of all time?
South Pacific, Grease and any Hopalong Cassidy film
What’s your favourite pastime?
Quality time with my wife, badminton, nature watching, DIY.
What’s your favourite book?
A good mystery or Photography.
Who or what do you detest the most?
Fanatics, the nanny state and bad manners.
What would be your advice to someone thinking about coming into the industry (apart from “don’t do it”)?
Whatever you do make sure you are satisfied with the effort you are putting in. It is too late to do it better after the event. If a customer tells you you lost it on price, ask him for a copy of the winning quotation. Never pass up the opportunity to learn.
M.A.S.H-B Profile
Established in 1986, M.A.S.H.-B. is a privately owned company dedicated to improving the safety of battery handling for forklift trucks. In 1990 M.A.S.H.-B. produced the first Automated Battery Handling System of its kind in Europe, for Toyota GB at Lutterworth in the U.K, where it is still doing its job 16 years later.
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