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Q&A with CEO, Peter Oram

Leaving full-time employment to set up Evolution MRO in January 2013, Peter Oram took the business to an impressive £2m turnover in its first year. When the time came to look for a partner to take Evolution to the next level, Peter met Toby Bridges, who heads up The NBT Group with its rich 110-year heritage. Upon Evolution joining The NBT Group, Peter moved into the role of Growth Director and has now moved up to the position of CEO.

Here he talks about what it means to take on this new role and what the plans are for The NBT Group’s future.

Q. You’ve recently taken a step up into CEO position at The NBT Group. What will your new role entail and how does this fit into the overall business?

A. The step up to CEO has been made challenging and exciting in equal measure by the fact that there are such great shoes to fill following Toby’s tenure, but it’s a challenge that I’m really looking forward to. Essentially, my role will be to continue the success and the growth that The NBT Group has enjoyed over the past few years. We secured first position in last year’s Fastest 50 Awards which was a fantastic achievement and we don’t intend to slow down, but rather to build on this outstanding achievement.

I’m looking to build a structure that can cope with our future growth and create a platform so that we can introduce more companies into the group. We pride ourselves at The NBT Group as being a great place to grow and that’s something we’ll continue to work on, for our customers, suppliers and staff.

Q. How has The NBT Group evolved in the time that you have been working there?

A. It’s coming up to five years now since I sold Evolution to The NBT Group and innovation has been firmly on the agenda. By bringing in Evolution, we’ve taken a 110-year-old rich history and built into it the best of the 21st century.

Internally we’ve also introduced an agile approach to working and we now operate on a Tribe and Squad structure by building communities within The NBT Group. Staff members can now take more ownership and autonomy on projects and everyone knows what they have to do to ensure our customers have a successful journey with us.

Q. What is your favourite part about working for The NBT Group?

A. For me, it has to be inspiring people within their own roles. As I mentioned earlier, we work hard to create an environment that fosters growth and we want to support our talented staff to continue through the business.

It’s been great to watch people join us and really bring their roles to life so that they can progress their careers and develop personally in the process.

Q. What are the next steps for The NBT Group?

A. We are looking to roll out our NBT Group Playbook which will allow both customers and staff to have an insight into our people, services and culture. We’ll be driving this into the business to continue our growth and create a frictionless trade model, offering our clients a seamless experience at all parts of their journey with us.

I want to continue the work of our fantastic previous CEO Toby. Although he will still be very much involved in his role as Executive Chair, I have lots to do to continue to keep the momentum of The NBT Group by merging 110 years of family values with cutting edge IT.

Q. Overall, The NBT Group places importance on staff wellbeing and creating an environment for individuals to grow. Why do you think it’s important to foster this kind of environment for staff members?

A. Without staff, you don’t have a business. For us, we introduced Tribes and Squads to take the decision-maker closer to the customer at all touch points.

We pride ourselves on empowering, training and supporting our employees to make decisions and to have the authority to do so. By doing this, it gives us time to create a scalable model in the business.

Q. How is it to be the first non-family CEO at The NBT Group?

A. I’m extremely proud to be given this opportunity. Toby has taken a massive step in taking the business to the next level and we’ll be announcing new exciting appointments to the board soon to help ensure we take the business forward.

I’m just very excited and looking forward to continuing our growth curve effectively.

Q. What about the future of The NBT Group really excites you?

A. The infinite opportunities that present themselves to us a business. We’ve created an immense pool of talent and opportunity and we’re going to leverage that.

Evolution brings together the most innovative technologies to progressive manufacturers. The business allows for all types of size of customer and industry. We can reduce indirect costs and open up redeployment opportunities to clients through automation of generally standard processes which offers value to all aspects of the business. For me, that’s really special.

Q. Finally, if you could be anyone in the world for one day, who would it be and why?

I’d be my wife. She never slows down, manages to run a house and is the best mother in the world to 3 fantastic children whilst holding down a part time role and she still finds time to inspire me every single day. Family is key when you’re in this position and I am lucky to have a great support network around me both at home and at work.

 

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