HotSeat – Eddie Thurloway, Sales & Business Development Manager at Colourmaster NIP
Established in 1973, Colourmaster NIP Ltd are a Clariant Omnicolour® masterbatch supplier and stockists of masterbatches, additives, raw materials, and more for the injection moulding and extrusion industry. Sales & Business Development Manager Eddie Thurloway has been in the chemicals and masterbatch market for over 34 years. He is the next PlastikCity Partner to face the HotSeat…
What trends do you think will shape the future of UK plastics? How will Colourmaster NIP respond?
I believe the UK plastics industry has a bright future with more and more UK companies looking to source products locally to shorten lead times and stock holding. Colourmaster NIP are known for our fast response to customer enquiries and going forward we will continue to keep a healthy range of stock products for next day delivery to help our customers production needs.
How has Colourmaster NIP developed during your tenure?
Having only been with Colourmaster NIP since February it is a little early for major developments. However, as a forward thinking company, we are continually reviewing the range of products and services we provide and are always on the look-out for additions which could complement our current offering and would be of benefit to our customers.
What do you credit as the key to your success?
I feel the key to my success has been that I am customer focused and work on building long-term relationships. I would hope that if you ask people who know me, they would say that I am honest, offer sound technical advice when asked and am not afraid of admitting when I don’t know an answer. This has built a trust which means people come back. Since joining Colourmaster NIP earlier this year I have found my colleagues there also share this honest, customer focused, approach.
What has been the greatest challenge in your career?
A difficult question as there have been many challenges along the way which have made my career to date quite interesting. One which sticks in the memory was being part of a team which developed a material to meet specific technical requirements on an enclosure moulding. This required creative thinking and a bespoke combination of materials and techniques to achieve the required result.
What advice do you wish you’d had on entering the industry and does that differ from the advice you would give to an Apprentice joining now?
Advice I wish I had had when starting would be not to expect things to necessarily continue as they are as the world of plastics can be quite fast moving and not always predictable.
My advice to any apprentice would be to not be afraid of asking plenty of questions in order to get a good understanding of the technical aspects of plastics and their strengths and weaknesses. A good technical grounding will enable you to make informed decisions as you progress through your career.
On a simpler note – when processing plastic materials always read the data sheets. Following the recommendations given, in my experience, will mean many of the processing issues I have come across in my career would not arise.
What hidden talents do you have?
I am not sure if you would call me talented at either, but I play golf in my spare time and also play the guitar.
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