Q&A With SF Engineering’s Installation and Commissioning Manager Martyn Rose
Martyn Rose started with SF Engineering on the shopfloor, working as a welder in our UK manufacturing facility in Cambridgeshire. Today, Martyn is responsible for all our installation and commissioning projects across the UK. He manages a skilled, experienced, and hard-working team that installs and commissions advanced production line solutions for the biggest names in the UK’s food sector as well as exciting, innovative, and respected SMEs.
Martyn’s journey with SF Engineering is fascinating and inspirational. His passion for quality and delivering on expectations ensures the highest standards of service on every project we deliver. It has also led to him winning numerous training, development, local business community awards.
We sat down with Martyn for a Q&A session to find out more about him, his career in SF Engineering, and how he ensures installation and commissioning projects are a success.
Question: Tell us a bit about your background before SF Engineering.
Martyn: “I started off in engineering when I was 16 years old working for a local engineering company. I then had to take a couple of years out following a motorbike accident, before going back into engineering. After a few years, I decided to set up my own marquee company. That experience taught me a lot about management and getting the best out of a team of people.
“I then fell back into engineering, joining SF Engineering in 2012.”
Question: Describe your journey with SF Engineering, from when you joined until now.
Martyn: “I started off in SF Engineering on the shop floor as a welder using my previous experience in engineering. I then progressed my way up through the company where I was working at customer sites on installation projects.
“At that time, I spent loads of time on client sites, and I thrived in that environment. I thrived on the camaraderie of being on-site with the lads, the quality of the work that we were doing, the pace of the work, and the satisfaction of completing the job on time.
“That led me to become an installation leader. I was a team leader on the shop floor for production at the same time.
“I then progressed up to senior installation leader where I had responsibility for carrying out all the big installation projects. This involved going away all over the country for weeks on end, then coming back and running the shop floor. I even covered for the production manager when he was on holiday.
“The management experience I got when running my own company was invaluable during this period. It also helps me today, as I have an ability to be able to manage people and have their respect because they know I served my time working on-site and on the shopfloor.
“At the time when I was a senior installation leader, there wasn’t an installation manager role at SF Engineering. I felt there was something missing between the projects team and the people on-site, so I brought forward the idea that there should be a role for a manager to look after all aspects of installation and commissioning. Seamus, the MD, and other senior leaders thought it was a good idea, so they implemented it and I became the Installation and Commissioning Manager at SF Engineering.”
Question: Describe your current role in SF Engineering.
Martyn: “I liaise between all operational aspects of the business to ensure projects are successfully installed and commissioned. It starts with the design and includes project managers, project engineers, and everyone else involved in a project.
“I coordinate the installation work, putting together installation plans and timelines for how the installation will run. We go into a huge amount of detail based on our decades of experience completing production line installations for companies in the food industry.
“The plans and timelines are given to the customer so they can follow the installation, then I coordinate everything related to the job, including the deliveries, guys going on-site, accommodation, and everything else.
“It depends on the size of the job whether or not I am on-site. I have two installation leaders that manage everything on-site while I liaise from here.
“I’ve got the best of both worlds. I do love the on-site installation work, and I thrive in that environment. But I also have the ability to work at the SF Engineering facility.”
Question: What gives you the most satisfaction from the job?
Martyn: “I thrive on the ability to be able to hit a deadline. I also thrive on being able to manage the guys to achieve the agreed installation times and dates. It’s that overall, of going to site and installing a new system, and at the end of it, you’ve got a fully working solution. That gives you a buzz that you have done a good job and the lads have worked well. I get great satisfaction from being able to plan an installation and then see it come to fruition.
“It’s also the challenge of completing a factory installation project in the food industry. The customer has contracts to deliver and output to achieve, so they want you in and out as quickly as possible.
“As a result, deadlines are very tight. But that is a buzz and a great sense of achievement to know you have done that. And it’s not just about completing the installation, either. It’s about completing it to the standard of a market leader like us at SF Engineering. I love it.”
Question: In relation to installations, what makes SF Engineering stand out from the competition?
Martyn: “It’s the level of planning and the detail we go into that allows us to be the market leader. I’ve come across other companies that don’t go anywhere near the depth we go into during the planning stage.
“Our customers know that we will install what we say we will install, it will be completed on time, and it will be of top quality. They know they’ll get a solution that gives them the outputs and throughputs of what we’ve actually sold them.
“I always seem to have a good ability to communicate well with customers and have good relationships. I believe you need to set off on an installation project after building a good relationship. Then, if you do hit issues, which can happen in complex food factory installations, and you are upfront and honest and let them know what is going on, they remain confident in what you are doing.”
Question: What’s it like working for SF Engineering?
Martyn: “I can truly say I do enjoy my job every day. Some people may say that to pay lip service, but I mean it. I literally started on the shop floor and have worked my way to a senior position in the company.
“My experience of SF Engineering is that it gives people the opportunity to work their way up and progress their careers. I’m the perfect example, as I went from being a welder to holding a senior position in a market-leading company in the food industry.”
