Job Role

Managing Director

Company

Bericap UK

What attracted you to the plastics industry in the first place?

I saw an advert for a engineering graduate training scheme involving international placements.

How did your career move forward?

Moved from project/production engineering roles, through shift supervision and management, into production/factory/operations manager jobs before getting first opportunity at General Management. During this time I added business management qualifications through distance learning to balance my technical training.

What advice do you have for young people starting out?

Don't underestimate the value of experience. A positive constructive helpful attitude gets you appreciated; you usually get back according to how much you put in.

What do you like about working in the plastics industry?

Most people have a sense of fun that they want to share in their work making it a very personable industry.
It is also a hugely wide industry, with lots of niches for specialists to thrive allowing close sector related networks to flourish, but with breadth for many industry sectors to learn and develop from each other.
The plastics industry is often more related to its end market sector rather than itself making it a very outward looking industry and this helps drive new ideas which in term keeps it interesting and fun.

How do you think the plastics industry will change in the next 5 years?

For the UK we will undoubtedly see changes influenced by our relationships with the EU and the rest of the world. We have many strengths but also rely on importing raw material and machinery. How we deal with this will affect industry change; generally I believe that with an optimistic flexible approach to change the industry can continue to be strong and grow.
Our historical ability to embrace and continually evolve new technology whilst making the most of what we have mean it should be a very worthwhile industry in which to have & build a career with lots of opportunities.

Wondering where you could fit into the industry? Head over to our Career Pathways to plot your journey now!