Scott's Journey

There's been some key managerial changes in Logistics during the last quarter, and we were delighted when the four managers agreed to tell their story! Here's Scott Payne's account of how he became the Site Manager at our Chepstow Depot.

What was your experience of the Logistics career development pathways?

My Micheldever career started out in early 2019 where I joined from an agency on the night team. Chepstow was in the process of moving sites at the time and my main role was making space for loads coming in the following day.  Although my stint on the agency was short I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could.

I didn't expect to work for the agency for very long, as I had pre planned travelling across Asia for 3 months (Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines).

Before leaving for my travels, the then site manager at Chepstow (Richard Davies) offered me a job for when I returned. Rob Morley was the stock manager at the time and he fought and presented a case to Danny James and Richard to get me on the stock team.

This meant I was able to go into a full time role in the Stock Team where I helped create and maintain successful stock integrity, while building a wealth of knowledge and pestering Rob to teach me everything he knows!

Rob then stepped into the site manager role, and this potentially gave me the opportunity to move forward and apply for the stock manager role. But my love of travelling meant I took another year out of the business when I went to do some charity work in Sri Lanka. I was open and honest with Micheldever about this from the start and they were very understanding of the opportunity I had been given.

After a year in Sri Lanka – I returned to Micheldever during April 2022 . While no job was kept open, and there was no guarantee of a role forthcoming, I was in communication with Rob when I was abroad, and when a vacant operative role become live I applied and was successful. I worked in this position for about 4 months before the day shift manager role become available and I was promoted after applying.

This role was challenging, as Chepstow was going through some transformation, including the introduction of the WMS. My main goal was to change the culture and set my own standards. At times this was challenging but having the support from Rob and my peers we managed to do this and turned the depot into a very successful site!

I remained a day shift manager until September 2024. Rob Morley had been promoted to Area Operations Manager, and it was a easy decision for me to apply for the site manager role.  After a nervy interview/ presentation with Rob & Danny I was thankfully successful and got the job!

Chepstow continues to grow and maintain a very high standard...

How did the career development pathways support your promotion?

When I first joined Micheldever there didn’t seem to be much room for progression, but you could ‘put yourself in the shop window’ by picking up extra tasks and going above and beyond.  Unless someone left there wasn't many chances to move up the ladder. Now there are many opportunities within the company thanks to a variety of different courses (Personal Development Plans and Apprenticeships).

What advice would you give to other colleagues who are looking to progress their careers at MTS?

Gain as much knowledge as possible and put yourself out there. Accept challenges, build relationships across the network, and try to become someone who colleagues come to for advice and wisdom.

Also, speak to your line manager to find out what development opportunities are available at MTS.

What are you most enjoying about your new role?

I am mostly enjoying learning again, and I think experiencing being the dayshift manager and getting Chepstow to where it needed to be in that department. Things went a little stale and I tried to learn as much as I could. Being the Site Manager is a whole new challenge and while there is greater responsibility, there's also great opportunities to learn.

I also enjoy getting out in the network and putting faces to names, which you see on emails daily as well as seeing how our other sites operate.

At Chepstow we are big on development and it's nice to see my management team pushing their teams and finding the next gems!