The Life & Times of An Engineer

If you’ve been a customer of ours for a while, it is likely you have met our on the road engineer and training extraordinaire, Paul Cleverly. Or, as he’s affectionately known as within the company, Uncle Paul. Paul has been with Aspoeck UK since it’s beginnings over 20 years ago and is very much a part of the furniture, as well as a much loved member of the team. Paul is due to retire at the end of this year. To mark the occasion, Ciara Waterfield (Marketing and Events) sat down with him amongst his busy schedule to outline his career – how he came to Aspoeck and what he loves most about his job as an engineer. 

Coming into the transportation industry…

Paul began working in transportation with a Ford main agent, before needing a change in career. He stumbled across a job working for an industry company supplying parts for commercial vehicles and gained experience looking at hot plates and ultrasonic vibration welders, as well as maintaining machines in their laboratory. Before long, he was invited to join Aspoeck UK by managing director Lee. It was from there that he became one of the first three employees, back in 2001.  

The Beginning of Aspoeck UK…

Paul recalls his first memories of Aspoeck UK’s humble beginnings at Raynham Road, the companies first premises. In any transportation business, there are certainly not just 3 job roles. However, the initial starters had to cover the whole business (which was already thriving in Austria) with just the three of them. From no knowledge whatsoever of the parts, products and kits, Paul recalls juggling ordering, customer orders, stock, picking and packing, as well as learning the job he carries out today – engineering our products and getting our customers back on the road. Paul would like to give a special mention to Aska, our first production assembly worker who joined the company and got to know Paul putting short cables on thousands of Proplast red rear lights. That didn’t put her off, and she is still working here in production today! Aspoeck prides itself on in house training and nurturing their existing employees into their roles. Aska and Paul certainly are a testament to that philosophy.

Transitioning to the Road…

Before long, it became clear that the skills Paul had demonstrated internally would prove very useful out on the road visiting customers and end users on site, looking at faults in their trailers. He tells me with pride of his trusty van, from the back of which anything can be made. He says, laughing, ‘When you look in the back you think ‘Oh my Goodness’, but someone did say to me a few months ago no that is a proper van, because it’s really untidy, you can get in and drive it but when you get on site you can probably make anything from something and get the vehicle back on the road’. Over his entire career, Paul has an excellent track record with only one trailer that let him down. Upon discussing this with him, it conspires that he did fix the trailer in the end, taking him a few months away from the job to discover what the problem was. Sometimes time away from something later brings more clarity. I congratulated him on his very impressive, 100% success rate. 100% vehicles back on the road after 20 years. That’s not bad…

The challenges…

Staying in a role for over 20 years must bring its challenges. Paul, however, views them very positively and sees each as its own learning experience. Whether it’s a customer out on the road, or an R&D or training tool in house, Paul loves the challenge of looking at what the client wants to achieve from sketches on bits of paper and bringing their requirements into conception. Turning information into working mechanics is a very rewarding process. It’s very admirable, as Paul has no degree in electronics. He has simply been open throughout his career and never shied away from the opportunity to learn.

The Best Bits…

For Paul, undoubtedly the best bit is achieving the job at the end of the day. He draws on a current job, converting electronics to control pneumatics for an in-house project. Achieving the challenge gives you a feeling like no other. Paul is a perfectionist, and never likes walking away from a job without winning it over. It is perseverance that, in Pauls case, gets you a 100% success rate.

Advice For Future Engineers…

When asked what pearls of wisdom Paul would pass down to younger generations of engineers, he has some fabulous advice. Aside from knowing how to dress for the weather you’re working in (he laughs, emphasising the need for thermal underwear), he speaks of resilience – not minding hours of driving and getting the job done no matter what the circumstance or situation, weather and all. Getting involved in whatever you can and being open to learning and applying the skills, as you never know when they will serve you well, either personally or professionally. And keeping your knowledge and problem solving skills active, by taking up a hobby that allows it to be practically applied. Whether that’s working on your own car renovation at home, or like Paul, brushing up on your mental maths by playing darts!

Upon closing our chat, Paul mentions that over the year he has thought of writing a book full of all of the questionable wiring he has found on trailers and funny stories he has had over the years. Perhaps in his retirement, this memoir will come some day soon.

Thank you, Paul, for everything you have done in your time with us. Your work and persona has truly shaped the company.