Gary Young joined the Donaldson Family in January 2022 as the General Manager of Donaldson Direct. We talked to him about what the job involves and delivering on our promises to customers.  

What does your job involve?  

I’m responsible for the day-to-day running of our Welwyn Garden City site. This involves ensuring that customer needs are met, that we meet our service level agreement of delivering trusses withing five working days, and for making sure that we return a profit for our stakeholders.  

Being General Manager on a relatively small site means I get involved in all aspects of the process from quoting projects to manufacturing and deliveries. 

What’s a typical workday like for you? 

I get up early and into the office ready for when our factory starts at 6am – I like to be there first thing so that I can help out wherever I can. 

I oversee the outgoing logistics to ensure our deliveries are getting to site on time to meet the carpentry/off-loading team. From there I check what new enquires we have received the day before and allocate them to our experienced design team. 

Then it’s on to the procurement of materials – we run just-in-time stock holding, so we normally place orders for timber and plates every two days. 

Finally, I look at the production for the following day to ensure we are cutting and making the trusses in the correct order to meet our customers’ needs. 

What might surprise people about your job? 

Just how varied it is, each job we do is a one-off bespoke project and every customer’s needs are different – we pride ourselves on being flexible and always on hand to help.  

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned while in this role? 

Our customer base is incredibly diverse – it goes from merchant customers to end users who are building their forever dream home, and we have the skills internally to adapt to all customer requirements. 

How do you spend your free time? 

I run when I can find the time and I also enjoy being freezing cold by the side of a rugby pitch watching my boys play. I also enjoy travel and socialising with my friends at weekends.