Sharon Thomas, Purchasing Manager, joined Days Fleet in January 1999
1. What is your role within Days Fleet?
As Purchasing Manager I oversee the acquisition of vehicles from point of raising orders through to the delivery to end users and everything else that happens to that vehicle in between. I also oversee the Client Support team in their day-to-day processes and management of clients.
2. What do you enjoy most about your role?
That no one day is the same. The diversity of what you deal with from one day to the next. I thrive from the pressure this can bring with it but being able to make decisions and to always be learning from the ever-changing industry makes it worthwhile. I also really enjoy the interaction with other team members, clients and suppliers. That’s what can make the job so enjoyable.
3. What was the most challenging part of working during the pandemic?
Mainly working at home full time with 2 children under the age of 5, there was a lot of mum guilt.
Work itself, I believe the business and suppliers all reacted very quickly and very early on new processes were put in place to ensure we could not only continue to work but to offer the level of customer service we have instilled to all of our teams.
During the pandemic the hardest obstacle was the restriction of movement. With the nature of our business, delivering vehicles is key and not being able to do this had a very big impact on us. I would say that we are currently feeling the worst of it, the ongoing shortage of semi-conductors, manufacturers closing order banks, lead-times hitting up to 12 months.
It is harder dealing with these now than having to manage clients’ expectations of when they could expect delivery of a vehicle that was already built. We have never experienced times like this before in the industry and I hope we start to see some improvement with these in the coming months.
4. What would you like to achieve in 2022?
A happy work/life balance. See my family happy and continuing to make memories with them that have been stalled over the last few years. Professionally I want to see my teams grow together and as individuals, achieve the targets I set myself daily and hopefully pass on some of the passion I have for my job on to others.
5. What’s your biggest achievement in life so far?
Without question my family. They are what get me through the day, even if at times they make me want to scream. To see my children and husband achieving in what they do makes me proud.
6. What was your first job?
Party host at a children’s soft play. For those who know me well this probably makes a lot of sense.
7. Which 3 famous people would you invite to a dinner party?
Joanna Lumley – I would love to hear her stories from over the years
Caroline Flack – To tell her what a beautiful and loved person she was by many
Cillian Murphy – Because it is my dinner party and I can……..
