Basildon Bond
Work Ethic It was not long before Colin May’s self-taught work ethic started to shine through. “Even when I was labouring, I wanted to be the fastest or the best,” he says. “I was never interested in competing with others. I have always just wanted to be the best at whatever I do, purely for my own satisfaction.” Vic Lane spotted the potential in his still young protégé very early on and quickly promoted him to Mobile Sales and Service Technician (MSST), handing him the keys to the third van to join the growing Pirtek Basildon operation. “MSSTs are the public face of Pirtek. Along with the vans, they are the most recognisable element of the business. And that brings with it a great deal of responsibility,” May insists. “I must admit, I struggled as an MSST to begin with. It was a steep learning curve but with some additional training and the help of Vic and the rest of the team, I started to enjoy it.” But May’s journey up the Pirtek ladder was far from over. “In addition to Pirtek Basildon, Vic also owned two other Pirtek Centres (Pirtek Harlow and Pirtek Leytonstone) and he was splitting his time between the three. He made it clear that he was looking for a Centre Manager to help carry some of the workload at Pirtek Basildon and I wasn’t going to say no,” May continues. “I became one of the youngest Centre Managers in the whole Pirtek UK network.” In 2003, Vic Lane sold his Pirtek Harlow business to his Centre Manager Perry Tubb. Yet even though the sale of Pirtek Harlow provided undeniable proof that a Centre Manager could (and, perhaps, should) be an
Through a mix of hard graft, dedication and commitment, Colin May has risen through the Pirtek ranks from trade counter assistant to owner, much to his own surprise. “I never set out to own my own business. But Pirtek gave me that opportunity and I seized the chance.” So says Colin May, Licensee at Pirtek Basildon who left school “without direction” and who had never even heard of Pirtek before the day he set foot in what would ultimately become his own business premises some 22 years later. May recalls that he was working for a Basildon-based company with links to the hydraulic hose world when he first encountered Pirtek. “A customer mentioned the fact that Pirtek was opening a Centre nearby,” he says. “I didn’t know the name but I decided to check them out for myself.” In a move that would make Norman Tebbit immensely proud, a 19-year old Colin May literally got on his bike after work and rode to the location of the as-yet-unopened Pirtek Basildon Centre. “They were still setting up. The electricians were fitting the lights and hoses and fittings were still being labelled and stored,” he says. “I poked my head in and spoke to the then owner – Vic Lane – and offered him my services as a trade counter assistant. He called me the same night to offer me a job and I started work there a week or so later. I haven’t looked back since.”
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