Behind the scenes heroes: Meet Nick, our Director of Sales and Business Development

Meet our people: Nick Herbert, Director of Sales & Business Development

We are delighted to formally announce the appointment of Nick Herbert as our Director of Sales and Business Development. A dedicated commercial and strategic leader within the engineering and manufacturing sector, with a passion for engineering, STEM, and manufacturing in the UK, Nick will be leading and developing our sales teams to grow and scale our business.

We caught up with him to get to know the man behind the title and to find out how he’s settling into life at Hutchinson so far.

Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in Nottingham with my wife of 16 years, Samantha and our Jack Russell dog, Scout. We have a camper van which we use as much as we can to explore the UK and beyond into Europe. Outside of work, I am a governor at a local infant school and am on the board of trustees for a Nottingham-based charity.

Q: What were you doing before Hutchinson?

I was working for a global business called Luxfer Gas Cylinders, who manufacture lightweight aluminium cylinders for a range of industries from medical to beverage and many other industrial applications and lightweight composite cylinders for CNG or hydrogen supplying into the transportation sector. An engineer by degree, studying Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University, I spent the first part of my career in the engineering profession before evolving my expertise into project management. Roles with leading automotive organisations Tsubakimoto and Gates Corporation followed, working with the likes of Toyota, Ford, Jaguar and Volvo, after which I secured my first director position with vehicle conversion specialists Bri-Stor Systems. I then ventured into the green energy sector with a company manufacturing components for wind turbines

Q: Why did you choose to join Hutchinson?

Hutchinson is a fantastic business, being family-owned and run, but also very people-focused. The foundation of the business that has got it to its current size and scale is strong, and there is a good appreciation of what’s needed to take the business into its next chapter of growth. Personally, the role represents a great opportunity to have a big impact on that growth, and to build a high-performing sales team as part of that.

Q: What does a typical day in your role look like?

It’s really mixed, and no two days are the same. I mainly split my time between leading and supporting my team, meeting and working with customers to support their growth and to overcome their challenges. I also work with the rest of the board of directors, focusing on the strategic aspects of leading and growing a business.

Q: What have you enjoyed most from your time at Hutchinson so far?

Getting to know everyone in the business and getting to know my team. The warm welcome I’ve received from everyone has been wonderful and has made me feel part of the Hutchinson team very quickly.

Q: What are you looking forward to most in the next 12 months at Hutchinson?

Supporting my team with their growth and development, whilst also developing and deploying a sales growth strategy alongside a sales excellence model to support the growth of Hutchinson over the next 12 months and beyond as we work together to deliver our overall growth strategy.