From Gloucestershire to Galway……..
The Tinius Olsen Sales Team are spread all over the world, from the USA to China and almost everywhere else in between. George Jackson is an excellent case in point.
George is originally from Gloucestershire, where he spent a lot of his time playing rugby! He started at under 8’s and progressed all the way though the age groups to play for Thornbury RFC, with the highlight playing a cup final at the memorial stadium in Bristol – the old home of Bristol Rugby.
He also represented Bristol combination U20’s and his County at U20 level playing on major rugby grounds such as Gloucester’s impressive ground, Kingsholm and the REC in Bath.
“I don’t get much chance to play these days, with my role here at Tinius Olsen taking priority. There’s also the Covid situation but never say never. If I never pick up a rugby ball again I have a huge number of great memories to look back on,” said George.
Starting his career in engineering with a Renishaw apprenticeship in 2012, beginning as a low volume machinist whilst studying part time, he soon moved up the ranks to become a Metrology Applications Engineer.
“I don’t get much chance to play these days, with my role here at Tinius Olsen taking priority. There’s also the Covid situation but never say never. If I never pick up a rugby ball again I have a huge number of great memories to look back on,” said George.
Starting his career in engineering with a Renishaw apprenticeship in 2012, beginning as a low volume machinist whilst studying part time, he soon moved up the ranks to become a Metrology Applications Engineer.
“That was the position that got me involved on an international basis. I was responsible for visiting customers in Europe to carry out installations and fix any problems they may have had. I also acted as an Ambassador for the company at major exhibitions and shows, which was very rewarding and great experience for what came next.”
What came next was a change of direction and an extremely successful year in Sales with the Bower Group, growing the business in the South West and meeting many new customers along the way many whom I still speak with today.
What came next was a change of direction and an extremely successful year in Sales with the Bower Group, growing the business in the South West and meeting many new customers along the way many whom I still speak with today.
‘It was my first foray in direct selling and thoroughly enjoyed it, having several multi machine projects and high value orders, it was certainly a steep learning curve. I managed to stay above target during my whole time with the company and quickly realised this was exactly what I wanted to do.”
Moving onto Taylor Hobson, George joined as the UK and Ireland Sales Manager, where he was responsible for closing a high value order for a defence company as one of his highlights! A great success but another opportunity was arise that he simply couldn’t say no to…..
“I learned that Tinius Olsen were looking to add to their sales team in Ireland and, being a respected international brand, I was naturally interested in finding out more. I contacted Martin Wheeler, Director of Sales and Development, through Linkedin, which led to a much more in depth conversation and here I am.”
Moving onto Taylor Hobson, George joined as the UK and Ireland Sales Manager, where he was responsible for closing a high value order for a defence company as one of his highlights! A great success but another opportunity was arise that he simply couldn’t say no to…..
“I learned that Tinius Olsen were looking to add to their sales team in Ireland and, being a respected international brand, I was naturally interested in finding out more. I contacted Martin Wheeler, Director of Sales and Development, through Linkedin, which led to a much more in depth conversation and here I am.”
“The thing that sold it to me is I could see the company was still very much a family run organisation and it was like being a member of one big family, despite being a large multinational. We pass this ethos onto our customers as well. Add to this our main goal of providing solutions that will make the customers life easier, it’s not difficult to see why this formula works so well.”
“Lockdown has been a very frustrating time for me personally, however. I thoroughly enjoy the face to face interaction with customers, which has obviously been extremely difficult over the past few months or so. Hopefully, things are now sorting themselves out and I can get back on the road again more consistently,” said George.
But George’s international links extend much further than simply his day job, as he explained.
Luckily I love to travel. As an example, I spent a month in India carrying out voluntary work in schools and local villages, as well as trekking through the Himalayas for 8 days. It was a fantastic experience and I’d certainly go back, once it’s safe to do so. Who knows, I may end up in the Tinius Olsen office in Uttar Pradesh at some stage so could kill two birds with one stone!”
Oh and George is a qualified tennis coach as well, so there’s plenty to talk to him about - including the Tinius Olsen range of products and services of course………..
“Lockdown has been a very frustrating time for me personally, however. I thoroughly enjoy the face to face interaction with customers, which has obviously been extremely difficult over the past few months or so. Hopefully, things are now sorting themselves out and I can get back on the road again more consistently,” said George.
But George’s international links extend much further than simply his day job, as he explained.
Luckily I love to travel. As an example, I spent a month in India carrying out voluntary work in schools and local villages, as well as trekking through the Himalayas for 8 days. It was a fantastic experience and I’d certainly go back, once it’s safe to do so. Who knows, I may end up in the Tinius Olsen office in Uttar Pradesh at some stage so could kill two birds with one stone!”
Oh and George is a qualified tennis coach as well, so there’s plenty to talk to him about - including the Tinius Olsen range of products and services of course………..
If you’d like to make an enquiry regarding your materials testing needs in Ireland, give George a call on 07818 364 793 or by email at george.jackson@tiniusolsen.co.uk
Comments