Meet Tom Adams, Workshop Manager

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Tom joined Winchester Caravans & Motorhomes in 2016 and has worked his way up from trainee technician during that time. Outside of work, Tom enjoys running, playing football and going to music festivals and on sunny holidays when there isn’t an ongoing pandemic!

The pandemic also scuppered Tom’s plans to run the 2020 London Marathon. He and his brother were signed up to run in memory of their grandad, who tragically died whilst taking part in the marathon in 1990, four years before Tom was born. Family members ran in his memory in 2000 and 2010 and the brothers were due to take the baton this year. They will now complete this in 2022 when the marathon returns to its normal April schedule.

What does your role involve?

My main purpose is to supervise the team and oversee the day to day running of the workshop. Each day starts with a team briefing in the morning with all the technicians and valeters present. We assess the day’s work and I allocate the jobs to individual team members to ensure everyone has a manageable workload and that each job is accounted for.

I act as an extra pair of hands wherever I’m needed, overseeing jobs, booking new jobs in and ordering parts. I’m responsible for keeping everything on track and ensuring every job gets completed in the required timeframe. I also keep my eye on all the new orders coming through to make sure that those vehicles are slotted in and prepared for collection as well.

What’s your career background?

Throughout college I played academy-level football for Oxford United and Basingstoke, which was great. When that came to an end I began working as a labourer on building sites before moving into a job in timber engineering, constructing roofs. It was during this time that I realised that I wanted to learn a trade, something that would challenge me and enable me to develop and progress. When I saw the trainee leisure vehicle technician role advertised it piqued my interest and I decided to go for it!

When I started the role, I spent two years training, which involved various different elements including courses in electrical - 12v and 230, gas safety and the caravan/motorhome service award. Most of the learning was practical with theory to back it up and the training concluded with a two-hour, multiple choice exam. At the end you become an NCC-approved technician, which is great on your CV!

After I qualified, I began building up my knowledge and expertise and slipped into the unofficial second in command role, which taught me a lot. When the Workshop Manager position became available in September, I secured the role and have enjoyed taking that step up.

What do you find most rewarding about your role?

When major repair jobs come into the workshop, those that we have to spend several days working on and putting right, it is very rewarding when these are completed and you see how pleased the customer is with the work that’s been done. Seeing their appreciation makes all the hard work worthwhile and it’s great to be able to provide that level of customer service.

What challenges you most?

Managing the workload is always challenging as we are fortunate enough to always find ourselves extremely busy! We book in a week’s worth of jobs, but there are always additional jobs that arise that need to be slotted in. This includes new sales that need to be prepared for delivery, any issues that arise within 28 days of sale and any leaking vehicles - these all have to be dealt with immediately which can mean a bit of juggling to ensure everything gets done and to the exceptional standard that we are known for.

Any notable aims and achievements to mention?

I always aim to do a good job and to fulfill the role to the best of my ability. I pride myself on always using my initiative to sort out any issues and complete complicated jobs that are outside the norm. I like to keep learning and progressing to be the best I can be and to provide the best possible service to our customers.

What do you like most about working for Winchester Caravans & Motorhomes?

The people are fantastic. I’ve got a great team of people behind me, everyone always pulls together and supports each other to make sure everything gets done. There’s a really good atmosphere in the workshop which makes coming into work a pleasure!

Find out more about our NCC-approved workshop and meet the rest of the team!

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