Ben joined Flex-R in 2009 after 12 years working as a high-end carpenter. Flex-R was small when he started, there were only 2 in the technical team, and he has seen the business grow significantly over the years. Ben has been instrumental in this growth and whilst his role now encompasses the additional responsibility of warehousing, facilities, purchasing and stock management, he is a technician at heart.
The technical team is a fundamentally important part of the Flex-R business, Ben explains:
“Each member of our technical team has an all-encompassing role that has become increasingly difficult with changing building legislation and lots more paperwork. They must be able to carry out product training at Flex-R’s facilities, and then on-site, assist with quotations, work on specifications, carry out roof surveys and condition reports. They must also be able to liaise with lots of different stakeholders like architects, surveyors, contractors, labourers, building owners and communicate at all levels. At Flex-R we sell a very technical product, but it’s a brilliant product and the tech team support their colleagues in the sales team, making an effective overall team of 10 customer facing people based out of our High Wycombe (South) and Huddersfield (North) facilities.”
Ben has enjoyed his time at Flex-R watching the business grow from a small close team working long hours to the business it has become today as one of the leading suppliers of EPDM flat roofing systems to both roofing contractors and specialist roofing merchants. He especially enjoyed those early years which he quotes as being the ‘most fun’ when his days were spent directly engaging with contractors, working on site with them doing product training on their EPDM solution.
But even though he must be personally less hands on today to provide wider support to his technical team, he believes that the technical role continues to be of great value and an appreciated service by their customers, Ben concludes: “It’s really important that we relay the correct information to people on the construction sites. We like to be the connection that keeps them abreast of changes to building regulations.”
