Meet the expert – Andy Clarke

I’m a bit like Stairways’ own A-Team – if you have a problem and if no one else can help…

If you have met Andy Clarke, you are unlikely to forget him. Andy is the Quality and Continuous Improvement manager at Stairways Midlands, based at our Walsall site. He has been with us since he was 16. There is little he doesn’t know about the business – and little he can’t help with.

Andy, aged 42, is a native of the Cannock area, where he still lives with his wife and two children, aged 12 and 16. He joined Stairways Midlands as an apprentice, something her remains grateful for as it set the foundation or his future career, and completed his NVQ level 3 qualification in carpentry and joinery at Stafford College.

Two years into his time with the company, he worked on the order to supply and fit high-end staircases for Westbury Homes. This developed into working on similar accounts across the country for other developers, fitting stairs across different sites.

He began to work more in the factory after more than 10 years of site fitting, covering technical drawing and quotes, among other things, quickly gaining a reputation as a man who could turn his hand to anything with staircases to help the business.

Then, in 2016, he took on his current full-time role in the factory with a remit that can see him focusing on quality and performance one minute, through to maintaining robust processes and making sure health and safety assessments are complete the next, while troubleshooting for customers throughout.

Andy said: “Basically, I do whatever I need to do to help the company out. A lot of the time, that is troubleshooting. If people have a problem and they are not sure where to turn, they come to me.

“Just looking through my email inbox from yesterday: I moved through improvement boards, engaging with the staff, activity risk assessments and sorting customers’ needs, then onto ensuring factory protection from forklifts getting damaged.

“I love the fact that I am in a job where I can make a difference and am on the go, sorting stuff out, whether that is being on the shop floor or out on site meeting customers.

“If there as one thing that would help the sector, as far as I am concerned, it would be around helping carpenters on site. If carpenters are happy, it helps us – and I have been there on site, so I know how important it is.

“Stairways is all about looking at fitability with our products, like EZE-WAYS and Railsafe, to help the carpenters on site fit in the best possible. Site managers just want to see the work done. It is the carpenters who do that and anything we can do to help them and keep them happy is a good thing.”

Andy has recently retired from coaching a local kids football team but still supports local sport and follows football – though will only divulge that he support” local teams”!

Aside from spending time with his family outside of work, Andy’s other love is his Suzuki GSXR1000 bike, which he is looking forward to getting out on once the weather improves and lockdown restrictions allow.

You can get hold of Andy on 07530 180040 or via andy.clarke@stairways.co.uk